Everton table bid for Lyon defender Jake O’Brien in brand new transfer

Everton have tabled an offer worth £16.8million for Lyon central defender Jake O’Brien, according to Foot01.

Writing on their website (8 July), the French news outlet report that the Toffees made a proposal to the Ligue 1 club to try and sign the centre-back and bolster Sean Dyche’s squad.

But they face competition from Nottingham Forest for his signature, with Lyon holding out for a bigger fee as they owe Crystal Palace 50 per cent of any profit they make on the deal.

Everton want quality and depth in the transfer window

The summer transfer window at Goodison Park has been about strengthening Dyche’s options rather than improving the starting lineup so far.

Iliman Ndiaye will replace Arnaut Danjuma as a forward option, while Tim Iroegbunam will help fill the gap left by Andre Gomes and Dele Alli’s departures and Jack Harrison’s return on loan means there’s no gap to fill.

But the expectation is that several players will still move on at some point in the window, with Michael Keane likely to be sold after Ben Godfrey was sold to Atalanta leaving the defence short.

The Toffees are confident they will be able to keep hold of Jarrad Branthwaite despite interest from Manchester United, while James Tarkowski remains very important, but beyond that Dyche would be short of options.

But O’Brien would add competition and quality depth to the squad in a deal that most fans would be delighted with too, so this is one to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.