Everton will offer Crystal Palace £60 million plus Cenk Tosun for Wilfried Zaha, according to The Telegraph.
The Toffees are understood to be keen on the 26-year-old winger, who hit 10 goals and 10 assists for the Eagles last season.
And the report suggests that they could be tempted to throw in one of their own players to try and get the deal over the line.
Tosun signed for the Toffees in January 2018, but struck just three times in 25 Premier League appearances last season.
TiF Tactics – What would the deal mean for Everton?
Really, on the face of it, this is a no brainer for the Toffees.
Zaha was arguably the standout talent outside of the top six last season, whereas Tosun, by contrast, was really quite poor.
The two players aren’t necessarily too similar, but the gulf in class is noticeable.
In every area but the amount of times they were dispossessed, Zaha comes out on top in a direct comparison, registering 2.1 shots on goal to Tosun’s 1.5 per match last season, and 1.5 key passes to Tosun’s 0.6 [Whoscored].
Even in the area where Tosun does outstrip the winger, dispossessed just 0.8 times to Zaha’s 4.2, simple maths tells you that the more time you spend on the ball, the more likely you are to lose it.
Bringing in Zaha and getting rid of Tosun at the same time would be a classic case of killing two birds with one stone.
Likely to happen?
You have to admire Everton’s ambition, but £60 million is still a lot of money for a club outside of the Champions League.
Zaha is probably worth it in the current climate of market hyperinflation, but there’s no saying that Palace won’t dig their heels in and demand even more than that for their star asset.
Throwing in Tosun could be a masterstroke, but the Turk isn’t exactly hot property at the moment, and his value may not make too much of a dent to Palace’s resolve.
Only time will tell with this one, but the Toffees are giving it a really good go.