Everton are poised to table a new contract offer to promising young midfielder Beni Baningime just three months after he signed his last deal, according to the Mail.
The newspaper claim in an extensive Everton transfer round-up that the club want to tie down the Congo-born anchorman, 19, after a string of impressive displays for their Under-23s this season.
The Mail report that the Merseysiders are “due to give a new contract” to the teenage midfielder in what has been his breakthrough season.
Baningime has made nine appearances for Everton, all of which have come in 2017-18, consisting of four starts in the Europa League and League Cup, and five Premier League matches.
The Toffees announced on their official website in October that Baningime had committed to a two-and-a-half year deal amid interest at the time from Manchester United.
OPINION
Baningime is the latest product of Everton’s flourishing academy who is destined to establish himself in the first team. The club are investing in the future as well as the present, with Tom Davies and Jonjoe Kenny establishing themselves as key members of the senior side after graduating from the academy, while fellow youngsters Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Mason Holgate and Ademola Lookman have all thrived during their short time at the club. Baningime is highly regarded at Everton and has been compared by Under-23s manager David Unsworth to Chelsea’s midfield juggernaut N’Golo Kante. That is high praise, and the club appear to have great faith in his ability to make it at the top level. A second contract in such a short space of time appears unconventional, but the first deal could have included clauses triggering a new agreement based on first team appearances.