According to Sky Sports journalist Alan Myers, Manchester United have turned down a bid from Everton to loan England international centre-back Chris Smalling for the season.

Man Utd turn down a bid by Everton to loan Chris Smalling

— Alan Myers (@ALANMYERSMEDIA) August 7, 2019

Manager Marco Silva wants defensive reinforcements before Thursday’s deadline after failing in his attempts to convince Chelsea to part with Kurt Zouma.

United just completed a world record move for a defender following the arrival of Harry Maguire from Leicester City for £80 million, and Smalling is expected to drop to the bench, with Victor Lindelof expected to pair with the new man.

Silva reckons the Englishman could be a great addition capable of providing quality cover and competition for the centre-back department at Goodison Park, but it doesn’t seem as if Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to lose him as he needs defensive depth too.

Smalling, though prone to errors, remains a fine defender with the experience the Portuguese boss wants, and could hit the ground running at Everton.

The Toffees badly want to snap up a centre-back in the next few hours, and it will be exciting to see which of the latest names get signed before tomorrow’s deadline.