The January market is upon us and rumours about potential transfers are already starting to surface. According to reports in Great Britain by Liverpool Echo, a newspaper which follows Liverpool and Everton closely, next month Everton will try to sign Lazio’s defender, Stefan De Vrij.

The Dutch centre back’s contract is due to expire in June, which means he can sign a pre-contract agreement in January. However, as can be expected for a top quality centre back like De Vrij, there is plenty of interest, especially from top Italian clubs, namely Inter, Milan and Juventus.

Everton’s director of football Steve Walsh has been a long-time admirer of the former Feyenoord defender and has proposed him as an addition to Blues boss Sam Allardyce.

The injury prone Dutch international has returned to full fitness this season, and has played 14 of 16 Serie A matches so far. De Vrij is out of contract in the summer and while it’s thought he doesn’t want to walk away from the Biancocelesti for free, there has still been no progress on renewal talks. The issue appears to be that the centre-back wants a relatively low release clause, while the Aquile, in typical Lotito fashion, want to set a substantial release fee clause.