Everton only have a single confirmed transfer of the January window so far. That is the departure of 21-year-old attacking midfielder Charlie Whitaker to Notts County for an undisclosed fee.
It is a pity to see Whitaker leave the club after a goalscoring start to the season for the u21s with seven goals in nine appearances but at 21 it is time to move on. He has been unfortunately with serious injuries and this represents a chance to build a career and hopefully gives Everton a sell on clause if he fulfils his potential.
Despite the single outgoing there are plenty of rumours about Everton’s moves in the transfer market.
Kyle Walker-Peters
The 27-year-old Southampton full back would be a perfect signing for Everton. Able to play both left and right back, the England international is excellent going forward and would work well in a system that utilises attacking full backs.
TeamTalk is so far the only site crediting Everton with interest Walker-Peters, whose contract expires in the summer. Southampton are reported to want £7 million for him to move in January with Leicester also interested.
It is the first link between Everton and the full back and it has not been supported by any other coverage, so take it with a pinch of salt.
Devyn Rensch
Dutch u21 captain Rensch is a technically-gifted right back who will be in high demand as his contract expires in six months.
Interestingly there seems to be solid interest from Everton’s sister club Roma, who have offered a swap deal for Zeki Celik, which was rejected. They returned with a £5m bid but that too has been rejected. With Napoli and others now in the race, reports in the Netherlands say Everton are also keen but could wait until the summer.
Could it be that he moves to Everton or Roma and is loaned to the other club? It’s a possibility but competition will be fierce for Rensch.
Wesley
Brazilian title O Dia has reported Everton are interested in £20m-rated Flamengo right back Wesley Franca.
He’s clearly a top prospect. At just 21 he was named in the team of the year in Brazil and Aston Villa have reportedly already had a bid turned down. AC Milan are also interested, so this is perhaps a leak to try to get them to up their bid.
Links to Brazilian players are interesting as we know Kevin Thelwell hired two South American scouts at the end of last year, meaning Everton do have a presence in these markets now. However, the Wesley links have gone off the boil in the last few days with no new reports since 6 January.
Richard Rios
24-year-old attacking midfielder Richard Rios is the next big star out of Colombia, wowing in his Copa America appearances last year. Alongside City winger Savinho, he was the breakout star of the tournament and would reportedly cost just £16m from Palmeiras.
Rios has actually been linked to Everton before, with some rumours emerging in August after the club sold Amadou Onana. Rios would be in the same vein – a talented midfielder with huge resale potential.
The issue is he’s been linked to several clubs over the last few weeks and that hints at a very busy agent. Nottingham Forest, Spurs and Manchester United have all been linked to the versatile midfielder, who can play centrally or out wide thanks to his excellent blend of technique and physicality.
We couldn’t find the original source of the rumours but GiveMeSport seem to be leading on this one.
Ernest Nuamah
Nuamah is a weird one. Linked in the summer, it was believed he turned down moves to Fulham and Everton in favour of staying at Lyon.
Since then he’s not played as many games as he would like and Everton tier one sources broke the news the club was seeking to sign the pacey winger last week. Since then it has gone quiet, with speculation the club has not agreed a fee with one time prospective Everton buyer John Textor.
The appointment of David Moyes has seemingly put this one on ice but expect it to be revisited if Moyes likes the look of the right winger before the end of the transfer window. With Lyon in dire financial straits it could be a bargain buy in a key area for Everton.