Everton are believed to be making their move for Manchester City defender Nathan Ake.
In an unexpected turn of events on Wednesday evening, David Moyes could be about to be handed a real boost for his defensive options.
Injuries are already hitting Everton hard, and the season only kicked off on Monday for the Toffees.
Jarrad Branthwaite has picked up a hamstring injury, which could see the centre-back miss out on the action until October.
He is not the only player to miss out on the start of the season, with Vitaliy Mykolenko suffering an injury in the final pre-season friendly.
Everton’s defence has taken a real hit over recent weeks, but they could be about to add a really experienced figure to their squad.
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Everton plotting swoop for Manchester City’s Nathan Ake
Despite losing multiple defenders to injury, Everton are pushing to sign Tyler Dibling after an underwhelming attacking display on Monday.
But an unexpected turn has seen the Blues make their move for Ake, according to the Daily Mail.
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The Blues may have been handed a boost in their race for Ake after what Pep Guardiola admitted over the weekend.
Guardiola omitted Jack Grealish from Man City’s squad that travelled to the Club World Cup over in the United States.
But it would seem the City manager is keen to get rid of even more players from his squad.
‘We should [trim the squad], but it’s difficult because I love all of them; I like all of them and they like to be here. So the situation is not easy but they know it,’ said Guardiola.
‘We have a lot of players, tomorrow there will be two players on the tribune, and when players come back it will be four or five at home and of course it’s not an ideal situation.’
This could be a big boost for the Blues, with City keen to offload players at a time when they are making a move to sign Ake.
Everton hold strong relationship with Manchester City
Plenty of deals between the two clubs have been sanctioned over recent years.
The latest of which saw Grealish make the move to Everton on a season-long loan from Man City.
Everton have a whopping £50m buy option for Grealish next summer, which would suggest the two clubs dealt well together in the negotiations.
If this is the case, then Everton could feel they have a good chance of landing Ake from City before the deadline on 1 September.
The 30-year-old was included in the City squad on Saturday, but he did not make it off the bench.
Given Ake is clearly not a player Guardiola feels is impacting his starting XI, perhaps Everton could have a real opportunity to land the defender this summer.