Everton are hoping to sign Lille midfielder Amadou Onana ahead of West Ham United after submitting a £33m bid to the French club.
The deal adds to plans to sign Idrissa Gana Gueye from Paris Saint-Germain three years after he left Goodison Park.
Onana, 20, is a defensive midfielder who has played for Belgium.
West Ham have been tracking him throughout the summer and manager David Moyes tabled an offer for the youngster worth an initial £29.2m plus £4.2m in add-ons.
However, sources in France indicate that Everton have now matched Lille’s asking price following talks between the clubs on Wednesday.
Everton are understood to be increasingly confident of landing the player, who