Everton have been linked with Diego Llorente for a while now.

According to the latest report from AS (translated by SportWitness), Everton are seriously interested in the player.

The Toffees could certainly use a reliable defender and the 25-year-old would be an impressive addition.

Llorente has a release clause of around €50m but he can be signed for half of that. It will be interesting to see if Everton make an offer for the player in the coming weeks.

Marco Silva needs to bring in a defender in order to replace Kurt Zouma. The Frenchman has returned to Chelsea upon the expiry of his loan deal.

Michael Keane is the only reliable defender at the club right now. Yerry Mina has had his fair share of injury problems and he cannot be trusted to start every game next season.

Llorente is a key player for Real Sociedad but they are prepared to cash in on him this summer. La Real need to improve their squad and they need the money.

The 25-year-old’s sale would help them improve multiple positions this summer.

The deal makes a lot of sense for all parties and it will be interesting to see if the Toffees manage to get it over the line now.

They certainly have the means to pay €25m for the player this summer.