Everton is interested in the defender of Manchester City Nathan Ake who can go back in the middle of the back.
Ake, 30, has organized a large part of the city's backline since he arrived at the club from Bournemouth for £ 41 million in 2020.
The versatile Dutchman has won 10 trophies in Etihad, including four Premier League titles, but he struggled with an injury in 2024-25 and only made 10 top flights and he was an unused replacement in their 4-0 win over Wolves on Saturday.
The side of David Moyes is desperate to bring reinforcements across the field in the last few weeks of the window and it now seems that Ake has become targeted.
Everton will be without Jarrad Branthwaite, who will be their preferred option at the left center, for a certain period after he sustained an injury in the training, while Left Vitaly Mykolenko also missed their 1-0 defeat through Leeds.
During that match, central midfielder James Garner from his position was deployed on the left, which emphasized the seriousness of the situation for Moyes.
Club captain James Tarkowski missed in the same way a period of preseason with a hamstring injury and Michael Keane and Jake O'Brien, who played against Leeds on the right, are the only other central backs in the team.
A deviation from the Etihad for the left-wing Ake may have been opened since former Wolves Left Backan Ait-Nouri came to the club for £ 31 million this summer.
Josko Gvardiol is another option that Pep Guardiola often selects on the left or on the left side of the central defense, so that Ake further pushes the pecking order.
Guardiola has also expressed the wish to reduce the size of his team during the summer and confirmed this belief for the Wolven conflict.
Asked if the team had more figures than he would like, he said: 'A bit, but many clubs have the same.
“We should [trim the squad]But it's hard because I love them all; I like them all and they like to be here. So the situation is not easy, but they know.
'We have many players, tomorrow there will be two players in the stands, and when players come back, it will be four or five at home and it is of course not an ideal situation.
“At the same time we have a lot of games, every season is more and more and you have to have a team to compete in every game.”
Ake, who also won 54 caps for the Netherlands, came through the ranks in Chelsea and enjoyed Leen Proverbs at Reading, Watford and Bournemouth before he made a permanent switch to the Cherries in 2017.
The side of Guardiola returns to action on Saturday when they take on Tottenham, while Everton – who has already signed Jack Grealish from City this summer – Host Brighton on Sunday afternoon.