Everton midfielder Amadou Onana is on the verge of a move to Aston Villa.
A host of European clubs have been tracking Onana since he was tipped to leave Goodison Park this summer due to Profit and Sustainability demands.
Barcelona and Arsenal were among those leading the chase for the Belgium international before Unai Emery’s side emerged as viable suitors this week.
Villa are expected to secure his services for a initial fee of £50 million, giving Sean Dyche’s side a profit of £26M on the midfielder’s amortised value.
Onana’s exit to the Champions League newcomers is also expected to ease Everton’s pressure to part with highly-rated defender Jarrad Branthwaite.
Manchester United remain interested in the England centre-back despite having successive bids of £35M and £45M rejected in recent weeks.
Goodison chiefs will not entertain any offers beneath £70M for Branthwaite, based on recent sales of several Premier League players in his position.
Since joining from Lille for an initial £30M in 2022, Onana has made 72 appearances in all competitions for Everton including 37 last season.
But his stock with the Blues suffered a considerable downturn towards the end of last season as he started only two of their remaining six matches.