However, if it comes down to cash, Everton should beat Aston Villa to the player, simply because £6.5m (which Villa have also offered) represents almost all of their transfer budget, whereas Everton have more cash to allocate to salaries should that be required. In addition, Everton will free up at least £100,000 per week of wage budget with the departure of several players in the summer when contracts expire, in particular Kevin Campbell and Duncan Ferguson, who between them command about £70,000 of Everton's approximatly £250,000 per week wage bill.
Beattie has been given until Monday to decide who to join, so there is a good chance that he will be playing for his new club, whomever they may be, on Tuesday night.