After Everton reports earlier in the window, interest appears to have gone cold

Early on in the transfer window, there were several Everton links with Real Sociedad’s Diego Llorente.

Reports claimed Blues interest the defender, with the last one a month ago suggesting there was ‘serious interest’ from Goodison Park.

Since then the rumours have died down, presumably because Everton have been pushing to try and get Kurt Zouma back from Chelsea.

Noticias de Gipuzkoa offer a suggestion as to why the rumours have quietened, stating that the interest in Llorente has ‘cooled’ of late.

They back up that Everton were an interested party but at the moment nothing is finalised, mentioning that the transfer deadline for English clubs is August 8th, suggesting something would need to be done soon if it were to happen.

Llorente is a player that could move on, particularly with Sociedad needing to reduce the squad, but it appears there’s little interest from Everton at this point.

That may change in the coming weeks, particularly if they can’t get Zouma back, which is a distinct possibility at this point.

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has made it clear he wants the player and Zouma intends to fight for his place, so perhaps this is one that may warm up if there’s a definitive answer on that one. Until then, it seems Everton have turned their attention elsewhere.