Villarreal rejects Everton's offer for Altidore loan

By KS Leong, Special to SI.com, Goal.com

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Villarreal reportedly has declined Everton's proposal to take young striker Jozy Altidore on loan for the rest of the season.

Madrid-based daily Marca reported Thursday that Villarreal president Fernando Roig has rejected the Toffee's offer to sign the 19-year-old American on loan until the end of the season.

The Spanish club currently has the likes of Giuseppe Rossi, Nihat Kahveci, Guille Franco, the underrated Joseba Llorente as well as promising starlet Altidore in their goal-scoring ranks. But it is the latter that Everton is interested in acquiring.

The Premier League outfit has been struck down by injuries to their three strikers -- Louis Saha, Aiyegbeni Yakubu and James Vaughn -- and manager David Moyes is anxious to bring in some reinforcements without spending too much money in the winter transfer market.

Altidore has only played six games so far for the Yellow Submarine, just two of which were starts, but he is valued at $10 million.

Everton will now turn its attention to either Lokomotiv Moscow's Peter Odemwingie or Zeni St. Petersburg's Pavel Pogrebnyak.