Everton line up stunning £17m bid for Premier League keeper - report
By Tom Blackburn
Everton are weighing up a stunning £17million bid for Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, according to a report.
Schmeichel was instrumental in Leicester’s Premier League win last season, but Everton are considering an offer to prise the Dane away from Champions League.
The Liverpool Echo claims the 29-year-old is on a list of high-profile targets being considered to succeed Tim Howard as the Toffees new first choice keeper.
Football Insider have reported a number of links with potential shot stoppers, including Tim Krul, Steve Mananda, Neto and Frazer Forster.
The pursuit of Schmeichel would comfortably top them all, given his pedigree and outstanding form as Leicester cruised to the Premier League title.
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A fee of £17million would also equal the record for a Premier League goalkeeper fee, set when Manchester United signed David de Gea in 2011.
Son of Manchester United great Peter Schmeichel, the former Leeds keeper conceded just 38 times in 36 league appearances with 15 clean sheets.
The Blues would face a challenge in convincing the Dane to abandon the lure of Champions League football at the King Power stadium, where he has become a fans favourite since joining for under £1.5million in 2011.
Leicester have already tacitly acknowledged that they may be without the shot-stopper next term and last month signed German World Cup winning goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler.
The 27-year-old joined from Hannover 96 for an undisclosed fee on a four-year-deal.
Koeman, meanwhile, has already boosted his goalkeeping options by signing Maarten Stekelenburg, 33, from Fulham.
In other Everton news, their high profile £100,000-a-week target has snubbed Liverpool to keep alive Koeman’s hopes of signing him.