Everton are looking to present Real Madrid with an offer of £12.2million for centre-back Diego Llorente, according to Marca.
The Spanish news outlet claims Real Sociedad are confident they can tie up a deal worth £6.9million to bring the 23-year-old defender in from Madrid.
However, the Toffees are said to be looking to blow Sociedad out of the water and the report details that the Merseysiders have asked Real Madrid to listen to their final bid, which will see a significant raise from what Sociedad are offering.
The young centre-back spent the previous campaign on loan from the Bernabeu with La Liga side Malaga and he played 27 times in all competitions, helping the Spanish club to an 11th placed finish.
He has also played three times for the Real Madrid senior team and has even been capped by Spain once during an international friendly clash against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Llorente can occupy both the centre-back and defensive midfield positions and is still contracted to Madrid until 2020.
Everton boss Ronald Koeman may now be looking to add some young blood to his back four with experienced duo Ashley Williams and Phil Jagielka taking up the centre-back roles in the Toffees’ eleven for large parts of the past season.