According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Everton have made Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori their No.1 choice as they search for a new centre-back.
After Thiago Silva joined the club from Paris Saint-Germain this summer, Tomori was expected to leave the club on loan but Chelsea boss Frank Lampard now wants the defender to remain at the club.
Romano claims Lampard is reluctant to lose Tomori and would rather loan out Antonio Rudiger, who has fallen down the pecking order at Chelsea.
Tomori failed to make the matchday squad for the first game of the season against Brighton but has featured in the last two games.
With Lampard not willing to let Tomori leave, Everton have now turned their attention to signing Barcelona defender Jean-Clair Todibo and are hoping to secure a loan, with an option to buy for €18 million (£16m/$21m).
Barca, though, want a permanent deal in place as they seek to offload Todibo to raise funds for a move for Manchester City centre-back Eric Garcia.
Roman tweeted: “Everton first choice as CB is Tomori but #CFC are trying to keep him and loan out Rudiger. That’s why #EFC have now re-opened talks with Barcelona to sign Todibo.
“Loan with buy option [€18m] offered, but #FCB want to sell him on a permanent deal to sign Eric Garcia.”