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Everton are on the verge of allowing João Virgínia to leave the club, on a loan deal which could turn into a permanent transfer.

The Toffees decided not to make Robin Olsen’s loan move from AS Roma permanent, and that presented a possible opportunity for the Portugal U21 international to be Jordan Pickford’s back-up.

Unfortunately for Virgínia, Everton then signed Asmir Begovic, which made it clear that Rafael Benitez would not be counting as much on the 21-year-old.

Saturday’s edition of Record reports Everton and Sporting are in ‘very advanced’ negotiations for the transfer, and it’s expected that all the details can be agreed in the coming days.

The Everton player will replace Luís Maximiano, who is set to move to Granada. Sporting are happy with the loan deal and an option to buy at the end of that period, although there’s no indication of what the transfer fee would be at that time.

Virgínia renewed his contract with Everton in September 2020, and it runs until 2024.