Charlton have agreed to sell Ezri Konsa for £5million with Everton and Liverpool interested, according to the Daily Mirror.
The newspaper claim that the League One club will sell the centre-back, and that the Toffees are leading the race for his signature, after signing Ademola Lookman a year ago from Charlton.
The Daily Mirror report that the Reds are also keen on Konsa as they want to team him up with Joe Gomez, who also came through the Addicks’ academy.
Everton’s chief scout Martyn Glover watched the 20-year-old play against Blackburn in December, and was impressed by the defender; despite his side losing 2-0.
Konsa has featured 30 times for Charlton this season, with 24 of those appearances being made in the league.
The natural centre-back, who can also operate as a right-back, was part of England’s Under-20 World Cup winning team in 2017.
Current manager Karl Robinson revealed in 2017, that he thought defender would leave in the winter window.
“My gut feeling is that he will go in January,” said Robinson, as quoted by the Daily Mirror.
“If I was him I’d be looking to go in January but we should look for £5m minimum.
“Maybe we could try for a loan back but the player has to want that.”
Good move for Everton?
Konsa is a highly-rated young defender, who the Toffees would be wise to pick up for a bargain fee of £5million.
The 20-year-old could join Mason Holgate and Jonjoe Kenny at the club, who have shown that Everton are willing to regularly play promising prospects in their defence.
While Everton are truly in desperate need of securing a long term replacement at left-back for Leighton Baines; they can’t afford to let Konsa go to Liverpool for such a reasonable price.
This is Futbol rating: 7/10
Likely to happen?
Everton are clearly interested in the defender, and Charlton are willing to cash in one of their assets.
However, with there being no rushed to get a deal done, unless Liverpool submit a bid, this deal may not occur in January.
Robinson referred to wanting the defender back on loan, so Everton could just wait until the summer to secure his signature.
The Addick’s manager may have had a gut feeling about a January exit for Konsa, but he could be wrong.
This is Futbol rating: 7/10