Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti has a lot of work to do this summer but he can make life a whole lot easier by landing a new central midfielder - and it appears they have the perfect candidate in mind already.

What's the word?

According to Sport, via Sport Witness, the Toffees are monitoring Espanyol's Marc Roca ahead of a potential move to Goodison Park.

It's claimed that the relegated La Liga outfit could part way with some of their stars due to them needing to reduce the wage bill, although Everton will face stiff competition from Premier League rivals Arsenal as well as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and AC Milan.

Roca is currently valued at £14.4m by Transfermarkt after impressing for the Spanish strugglers whilst La Razon claimed last week that the 23-year-old will be available for a fee between €20m and €25m (£18m and £22.5m).

Midfield upgrade

If Marcel Brands is able to clinch the young midfielder, then he'll be handing Ancelotti a major upgrade to his midfield - quite possibly the weakest area of the pitch.

In terms of tackles per game, Roca (2.3) is streets ahead of Andre Gomes (1.1) and Tom Davies (1.2) whilst he also averages more key passes (0.8), shots (0.9) and clearances (1.4) than the Toffees duo.

And even despite being a more defensive anchor, the Espanyol star has a higher xG (0.07) and xA (0.09) than the Portuguese, who is struggling with an expected goals total of 0.01 and expected assists total of 0.07, per Understat.

The Spaniard has also been likened to many great compatriots including former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso and Barcelona lynchpin Sergio Busquets, this is because his role has been defined - the pivot the kickstarts the attacks.

Interestingly, Ancelotti had Alonso at both Madrid and Bayern, so perhaps it's no surprise that he's eyeing up a player in a very similar mould in Roca.

If there's any player to kickstart his revolution at Goodison Park, then a swoop for the 23-year-old makes the most sense and at just £22.5m, it would be a wholesome bargain.

AND in other news, Everton must sanction £12m swoop for Gerrard favourite