Everton look set to fend off competition from Tottenham and win the race for Southampton midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, talkSPORT understands.
Tottenham have made a late offer for the Denmark international, but the Toffees are favourites to finally land their man after two failed bids.
Hojbjerg is on the verge of signing for Everton
According to talkSPORT sources, Hojbjerg favours a move to Spurs, but Daniel Levy is unwilling to meet Southampton’s asking price.
But talkSPORT also understands that the 24-year-old has been to Everton’s Finch Farm training ground and has agreed personal terms with them, making a move to Carlo Ancelotti’s side increasingly likely.
He is set to become Everton’s second signing ahead of the 2020/21 campaign, after the Merseysiders agreed a deal for ex-Marseille defender and free agent Niels Nkounkou.
Hojbjerg, who joined Southampton for £12.8million from Bayern Munich in 2016, was stripped of the captaincy before last months Premier League restart after publicly revealing his desire to move on.
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Explaining the decision, Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said: He will not be the captain. I spoke to him, we have an agreement.
He wanted to receive clearly what I think about it, and I said if you do not extend your contract you cannot captain anymore this team.
Its a special situation for such a player who is very professional.
Its not a good situation to go into a final year (of your contract), especially as captain, but I think we found a good agreement.
