Everton eye shock move for overlooked Leicester star in preparation for Ben Godfrey exit

Everton are considering a surprise move for Leicester City defender Harry Souttar as a potential replacement for Ben Godfrey, sources have told TEAMtalk.

Everton are weighing up allowing Godfrey to leave Goodison Park before Thursday’s transfer deadline amid interest from Leeds United and Genoa.

The Toffees would only consider letting Godfrey go if they can bring in a replacement as Sean Dyche does not want to weaken his squad as they battle to secure survival in the second half of the season.

As a result, Everton are looking at a number of defensive targets and they are keeping tabs on Souttar’s situation at Leicester as he has found himself out of favour under Enzo Maresca this season.

Souttar, who joined Leicester from Stoke City last January, has started just two games for the Foxes since the arrival of Maresca last summer.

Leicester could be open to letting Souttar move on as it would free up space in the squad and potentially allow them to make signings of their own before the transfer window slams shut on Thursday.

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Australia international aware of need for playing time

Souttar, who shone at the World Cup in Qatar with Australia, is currently away on international duty at the Asian Cup and the player himself has admitted his lack of opportunities at Leicester could harm his international ambitions.

“A club move has not even crossed my mind,” Souttar said. “As soon as I came into camp it was just full concentration on what this tournament is and how we’re going to succeed.

“My full concentration is on Australia and I think it would be disrespectful to the country, my team-mates, the staff here if my head was anywhere else and thinking about these other things when we’ve got a massive tournament here.

“All I will say is that obviously it’s not been great that I’ve not got match minutes at my club and obviously I know that that can’t continue if I want to be a part of the national team.”

Souttar, 25, is under contract at the King Power Stadium until 2028.

He has made a total of 16 appearances for his current employers since leaving Stoke.

Everton could provide him with a chance to step back up into the Premier League after he was part of Leicester’s relegated squad last season.

The player whose role he could fill, Godfrey, has fallen behind Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski in the Everton pecking order at centre-back.

Michael Keane has also made more appearances than Godfrey this season, which means the former Norwich man is effectively fourth choice.

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