Everton are attempting to gazump Arsenal in the battle to sign England defender Ben White, according to the Daily Mail.

Brighton & Hove Albion have demanded £50 million for White. Arsenal have been negotiating a deal for him after seeing their opening bid rejected.

It has been claimed that the Gunners are close to signing him after the club came up with an improved offer.

However, Everton are now looking to beat Arsenal in the race and have held talks with Brighton over a £50m transfer.

The Toffees are offering an extra £5m to the south coast club in add-ons, a package that trumps the one offered by Arsenal last week.

Many Everton fans have taken to Twitter to express their reactions. Some fans feel that White would be a superb signing for the club, while others have suggested that signing a centre-back is not a priority.

https://twitter.com/KyleUTFH/status/1410700927200382979s=20

Only Everton would pay 50m for a cb when that’s the one part of the squad we are stacked in

— beans and pandas (@woahpandas1) July 1, 2021

Godfrey and white be our best partnership easily near the same player quality wise

— Daniel (@Danthedon1878) July 1, 2021

20mil in footballing terms isn't a lot, if we could structure a deal over several years then that is a very good deal tbh