Everton must pay a record £15 million if they're to land Porto midfielder Lucho Gonzalez.

Real Madrid have also been linked with him, but Valencia believed they had landed the player after drawing up a lucrative contract approved by the 26-year-old's advisers.

However, Porto refused to sanction the deal and told Gonzalez they would not consider releasing him for less than £15m, nearly twice the club record £8.6m Everton paid Crystal Palace for Andy Johnson.

Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira said: 'It would be a massive blow to lose Lucho and I intend to make sure it doesn't happen.'