Everton are in the market for a new central midfielder this summer and could now get the chance to sign a £65million player they once targeted for free.

Andre Gomes signalled his Everton farewell with a classy thank you message to Blues fans on Friday ahead of his contract expiring after six years at Goodison Park. Dele Alli will also be let go when his current deal runs out at the end of this month, although the club announced ahead of their final game of the season at Arsenal that the 28-year-old will remain with them while he continues an intensive rehabilitation programme from a long-term groin injury, which he has recently been undergoing away from Merseyside.

With Amadou Onana also tipped for a big-money transfer away this summer and the Belgium international midfielder revealing he is hoping to use the upcoming European Championships as a platform to earn a move, manager Sean Dyche and director of football Kevin Thelwell are looking at reinforcements in the engine room and the ECHO understands there is interest in taking Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips, a player who Dyche has spoken of his admiration for in the past, on loan. Thelwell has made clear that a sustainable football model has to be built on astute trading, in and out of the club and while there are now several new interested parties hoping to complete an Everton takeover after a deal with 777 Partners collapsed, funds remain tight until a new regime to replace wantaway majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri is in place.

Despite joining Spurs for £65million on the back of their run to the Champions League final in 2019 having been one of Mauricio Pochettino’s top targets, the France international has failed to live up to expectations. The player from Longjumeau, some 11 miles south from the centre of Paris, hasn’t kicked a ball for Tottenham since January 2022 and has spent the past two-and-a-half years out on loan at previous club Lyon plus Napoli and Galatasaray.

Since arriving in the Premier League, Ndombele has played 91 times, scoring 10 goals, but has fallen out of favour with several managers and the article claims that chairman Daniel Levy is now ready to cut his losses entirely and let the 27-year-old leave on a free, despite still having another year left on his current deal. Given that Everton are willing to take a calculated risk to try and revive Phillips’ career after a nightmare spell at the Etihad Stadium where manager Pep Guardiola accused him of being overweight, perhaps they might also be tempted to plump for Ndombele?

A pre-season of hard work under Dyche, including the iconic ‘Gaffer’s Day’ can get players into top shape – just look at the benefits it brought Dominic Calvert-Lewin this term – and despite Ndombele also being branded as being too heavy while he was at his first club Amiens, he’s a player that Everton have been tracking since 2018 when they sent their then chief scout Martyn Glover across the channel to run the rule over him.