Everton closing in on FOUR new signings

Everton might or might not be able to add to their squad for the season opener against Chelsea on Saturday especially since any new signings will need to be registered with the Premier League by noon on Friday, but they are that much closer to getting a handful of new transfers done.

The big news from Friday morning is that Everton and Lille have reached an agreement on powerful young midfielder Amadou Onana, with the player now on Merseyside for his medical with a view to getting the deal done ahead of the noon deadline.

The Belgian international was being heavily pursued by West Ham as well, but with both clubs having stumped up the same transfer fee, Onana was said to have preferred the move to the Toffees who had offered a better wage structure among other things.

It doesn’t end there though, with the deal for Idrissa Gana Gueye also coming along. The Blues are said to have reached an agreement with Paris St Germain for the return of the Senegal international three summers after he left the Toffees. That transfer was expected to have gone through already but looks to have been held up by other pursuits.

Gueye might yet get announced before the Friday noon cutoff, but at this point looks more likely to happen in the next few days.

Another name that has been linked with the Blues in recent days is defender Conor Coady. The Wolves captain is well known to Director of Football Kevin Thelwell and manager Frank Lampard is said to be a big fan of the player too. Wolves are willing to let the 29-year-old leave in search of regular first team football in a World Cup season, and Coady’s familiarity with a back-three, leadership and aerial prowess will all be of particular interest to the Blues.

Finally, another name from earlier in the summer has come back up. Chelsea failed to offer squad numbers to a handful of players — Ethan Ampadu, Kenedy, Billy Gilmour, Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi — who all been told they can find their futures elsewhere. The last three of those names have all been linked with the Toffees, but now it’s being reported that Everton are back for midfielder Billy Gilmour though formal talks are yet to happen and the Blues are interested in the 21-year-old on a loan deal.

It will still be of some concern that Everton are getting closer to signing a handful of new players but are yet to address the giant concern up front where they remain very thin behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Salomon Rondon. The Blues might yet bring in Armando Broja on loan, but at this point it’s still all up in the air.