An update has emerged on Everton's pursuit of Scotland international right-back Nathan Patterson...

What's the talk?

According to The Guardian, the Toffees are set to go back in for the Rangers defender in January to bolster Rafa Benitez's squad.

The report claims that the Blues had a £9m offer rejected for the full-back in the summer and are now set to make another attempt at signing him.

Axe him

Everton boss Benitez can finally axe £68k-per-week defender Seamus Coleman from the starting XI by landing a deal for Patterson in January.

The 33-year-old, who was recently blasted for a "disaster" against Liverpool by Ally McCoist, has been in poor form this season and the timing could be right for him to be eased out of the team. He has averaged a dismal WhoScored rating of 6.51 in the Premier League, after averaging an unimpressive score of 6.65 last term too.

Unfortunately, Jonjoe Kenny has not been good enough when given a chance to show that he can be the long-term successor to the Irishman. The 24-year-old averaged a score of 6.04 in the top-flight last season and has played twice this term - scoring 6.15 and 6.28.

This is where Patterson may come in. If Everton can secure a deal for the right-back then he could replace Coleman in the XI and allow the veteran to play a supporting role in the squad, rather than being someone who is relied upon week-in-week-out.

Celtic midfielder Callum McGregor once heaped praise on the 20-year-old Rangers gem, saying: "He’s been absolutely first class. You can tell he’s a real talent – even from the first day he trained with us in the summer.

"You could see his quality, his athleticism. And it’s great to see him make such a big impact, getting off the mark with a goal. He needs to just keep his head down and keep working hard. Other experienced boys will keep him on the right track, keep him honest."

Patterson has averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.87 for Scotland in their World Cup qualifiers, producing one goal and one assist from full-back in four matches. He also averaged a rating of 6.94 in the Europa League for the Gers last term, scoring once in four outings.

Whilst this is not a wealth of data to bank on, he has plenty of room to develop - at the age of 20 - and these statistics are promising signs of the player the beast could become. Therefore, he could be an exciting signing for Everton as he has potential to improve and could compete for the right-back spot, allowing Benitez to finally axe Coleman from his place as a first-team regular.

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