Everton are ‘ready’ to offer defender Nicolas N’Koulou a considerable improvement on his current wages to lure him away from Torino this summer.
The Blues are expected to be active during the summer transfer window, with Carlo Ancelotti having been promised funds to overhaul the squad he inherited from Marco Silva.
Adding a central defender to their group is likely to be among his top priorities, with just Michael Keane, Mason Holgate and Yerry Mina available at present.
And one man they may target to fill that fourth spot is Torino’s N’Koulou if Torino Granata are to be believed.
The website reports that the defender is ‘ready to say goodbye’ to the Serie A side this summer with their relationship ‘destined to end’ given his performances in recent years.
A whole host of clubs in Italy, such as Lazio, Roma and Napoli, would be interested in the 29-year-old but Everton are also named as potential suitors.
They would be willing to offer N’Koulou ‘an even richer engagement’ than the €1.5m he currently earns in Turin.
The website doesn’t state what sort of price tag they would have to pay, but they do believe that Torino could make a ‘significant gain’ from his sale so the price would presumably be much higher than the €3.5m they paid Lyon in 2018.
The Toffees are not the only Premier League side who would be interested, with Bournemouth, West Ham and Wolves all potentially keen as well; however, the first two would have to avoid relegation first.
Everton’s interest is doubtful, though. While Carlo Ancelotti will know the player from his time in Italy, it’s unlikely he’d be looking to bring him to Goodison Park.
Both he and director of football Marcel Brands have made it clear they will be signing young, up and coming players rather than established ones and at 29-year-old, N’Koulou doesn’t fit that bracket.
The club are already lumbered with players they cannot sell on for profit in future, a principal aim for Brands, and it seems unlikely they’d be keen to add the Cameroon international to that list.
