According to the Daily Mail, Everton are one of the Premier League clubs who had showed strong interest in Middlesbrough defender Dael Fry.
The newspaper claim that Ronaldo Koeman’s side are monitoring the rising 20-year-old who is beginning to make a name for himself in the Championship.
It is believed that the Toffees alongside Manchester United, Leicester City and Chelsea are in the hunt for the centre-back.
Fry has been called up to the England Under-21 squad during the international break and the Boro academy graduate is being watched by the Premier League clubs.
What’s good in this for Everton?
Fry is an upcoming English prospect and it makes sense that Everton are interested on bringing him to Goodison Park.
The England Under-21 star has already registered 11 appearances for Boro this season and is competing for a spot alongside the likes of Daniel Ayala, Ryan Shotton and Ben Gibson.
Fry is nowhere near the finished article, but Garry Monk has been happy to throw him into their league fixtures.
The Toffees are in desperate need of a new centre-back in their team as Ashley Williams and Phil Jagielka appear to be on the sideline.
John Stones and Arsenal’s Rob Holding are perfect example from the past that picking up young player from the lower leagues can prove a major success.
How likely is this going to happen?
Fry is a product of the Boro academy and his immediate future appears to be at the Riverside Stadium despite strong interest from the Premier League.
The ball-playing centre-back has managed to become a regular in the first team and that has helped him earn a place in the England Under-21 team.
The Toffees will face a difficult battle to sign the defender and there will be a mad scramble if Fry becomes available.
However, Everton are in desperate need of some young recruitment in their defence so this deal is feasible at some point in the future.
F/W’s view
In hindsight, Dael Fry is not yet ready for Premier League football as he continue working on correcting the mistakes out of his games, but could still be a good long-term investment and should be monitored very closely for the England Under-21s side.