Former Everton star Michael Ball claims that the Toffees have been tracking Turkey international Zeki Celik for some time amid links with the full-back.
The Lille star is said to be available this summer for a fee of €13.5m (£11.5m), with the Toffees already touted as a potential destination.
Celik was included in Turkey’s squad for Euro 2020 but they endured a terrible tournament and were knocked out in the group stages, losing every game to Italy, Wales and Switzerland.
Do you think Everton will sign Celik?
Yes
No
Nevertheless, he remains an impressive full-back prospect, who has made a total of 103 appearances for Lille at the age of 24.
It remains to be seen if Everton will follow up their interest with a firm bid but Ball believes they have been tracking Celik for some time, and that a right-back is a required signing this summer, to ease the burden on veteran full-back Seamus Coleman.
Speaking exclusively to This Is Futbol, he said: “With Celik, it seems to be one where Everton have shown interest for quite a while.
“Probably very strongly in January more than last summer but it’s obviously a position the club needs to bring in. Seamus Coleman is doing the best that he can but if he gets injured we’re playing centre-halves at right-back, it’s not really ideal.”