Everton are close to signing former Aston Villa and Manchester United defender Ashley Young as the 38-year-old is set to undergo a medical today.
The versatile Premier League veteran has been a free agent since his contract expired at Villa Park in his second stint with the Midlands club.
He began his career with Watford and the move for the top-flight winner, who has predominantly played as a full-back in recent seasons, would see a reunion with Everton manager Sean Dyche who played with Young during his stint at Vicarage Road.
Should the defender pass his medical tests, it would see the beginning of incoming business for the Blues and mark the first signing under the former Burnley boss.
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Everton are facing a difficult summer as the look to work to a stringent budget ahead of their pursuit of cementing further up the table following back-to-back seasons locked in a relegation battle.
Blues fans offered mixed reactions to the news that Young would undergo tests ahead of a possible move.
But the positive responses outweighed the negative as some described it as a good addition given the current circumstances in L4.
There was another key theme too: signing Young makes sense on the condition that it means money is being saved for other crucial areas of the squad, especially attack.
Some fans were not so sure over the 38-year-old and news that he could be the first arrival on Merseyside.
Should he complete his move, Young will have to win over some of the Blues faithful with a section of supporters suggesting he is the wrong calibre of player to sign given the circumstances surrounding the club.
Unai Emery, who had Young at his disposal last season at Villa Park, raved about the 38-year-old. The Spaniard highlighted the qualities that Everton will be inheriting if his move is completed.
He said in April: "Ashley Young is an example. I had players like this at Villarreal too. If you didn’t know his age you could think he is 28 because every day even as much as he is playing he is playing very well. Before usually you were seeing players of 32, 34 starting to finish their careers 20 years ago.
"At Villarreal we were signing players 35, 36, like Jose Luis Morales and we didn’t change our mind for his age. Now it is the same for Young. We are going to speak about him. Now is not the moment but, of course, he can extend his career longer than this year.
"He is very important in the dressing room. I am using him a lot of times when we are speaking together before matches about our experiences - my experiences and the players’ experiences.
“Ashley Young is very important because he had a very good career. He had a lot of experiences in Manchester United and Inter Milan. He played in European matches, key matches, under pressure. I want to use him with his experiences to tell us about how he felt in each moment."
