Everton are interested in signing Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori after conceding defeat in their pursuit of Kurt Zouma, claims the London Evening Standard.
Zouma spent last season on loan at Everton and Marco Silva’s side had hoped to make his switch permanent this summer following the departure of veteran Phil Jagielka.
However, Chelsea have opted to reintegrate Zouma into their first-team plans for next season after being hit with a FIFA-imposed transfer ban for the next two windows.
Everton still intend to sign a centre-back before the transfer window shuts and have now turned their attention to Chelsea youngster Tomori, who is available for loan.
The England Under-21 international impressed during a loan spell with Derby last season but now Chelsea want him to get regular playing time in one of Europe’s top five leagues.
Clubs from Portugal and Germany are understood to be interested in the 21-year-old but Everton are hopeful of concluding a deal ahead of their European rivals.
Only Derby captain Richard Keogh (4392) accumulated more minutes on the pitch than Tomori (4062) for the Rams in the Championship last season.
The Chelsea centre-back impressively averaged 2.3 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game during his loan stint in the Championship in 2018/19.
