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Revealed: Everton agreed to sign PL 21-yr-old before plug pulled at 11th hour
By Wayne Veysey
Everton had reached an agreement in principle with Chelsea to sign Fikayo Tomori on loan before the plug was pulled when David Luiz joined Arsenal, Football Insider understands.
A deal was in place last month for the 21-year-old to spend the campaign at Goodison Park as a replacement for his Blues colleague Kurt Zouma, who had a successful spell there last season.
An Everton source has told Football Insider the transfer was scrapped at the eleventh hour as David Luiz sealed a hastily-arranged £8million move to Arsenal that was finalised on the last day of the Premier League window.
It was a major blow to Everton, who were in the market for a new centre-back up until deadline day but could not push a deal over the finish line.
It leaves them with just first choice pair Yerry Mina and Michael Keane as the senior centre-backs, along with the versatile Mason Holgate, who spent last season on loan at West Brom playing predominantly at right-back.
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Tomori has made just three senior Chelsea appearances, although he did start in central defence alongside Zouma in last weekend’s 2-2 draw against Sheffield United.
He made 55 appearances for Derby County under Frank Lampard last season, a remarkable 54 of which were starts, as he won the club’s player of the season award.
Tomori is fighting with Zouma, Andreas Christensen and the injured Antonio Rudiger for a regular starting spot at Chelsea.
In other Everton news, it can be REVEALED how a major transfer development happened after Goodison midfielder jetted overseas for late-summer talks.