Everton are in the hunt to sign Manchester United centre-back and are prepared to try and lure him away from Old Trafford in January, according to the Sun.
The newspaper claims that Marco Silva is expected to be backed with a strong budget in January and will have a go at signing the 28-year-old England international, even though he has held talks about improving his current £90,000-a-week deal in Manchester.
It is understood that the Toffees could wait until the end of the season to sign the ex-Fulham centre-back when his contract expires, but United have the option to extend his deal by a further 12 months.
Good move for Everton?
Smalling has been widely criticised for most of his time at Man United but he is someone who could certainly do a job for a team that is just outside the Premier League’s top-six.
If the Toffees can sign him for free then brilliant, go for it, but they should avoid spending big in January in they don’t have to, especially because Marco Silva’s current centre-back options are pretty decent.
Everton need to focus their spending on a new right-back and a new centre-forward before strengthening areas like the centre of defence.
This is Futbol rating 6/10
Likely to happen?
Surely Everton won’t be able to sign Smalling for free next year if Man United have the option to extend his deal by another year?
And the defender has been playing regularly for United this season, with 14 appearances across all competitions, so why would Jose Mourinho sell him and why would Smalling want to leave Old Trafford?
It doesn’t add up and we really cannot see this one happening, especially as Silva is more than likely happy with his centre-back options.
This is Futbol rating 2/10