Everton have been struggling for the entire first half of the season, picking up just five wins so far, and now one of their players could be on his way out of the club during the transfer window.

What's the word?

According to news outlet, Football Insider, they understand that Burnley are interested in securing the signing of Everton player, Mason Holgate, during the January transfer window.

A Burnley source has told them that the 25-year-old is on the club's radar, whether that be in the current window or the summer.

In the report, they confirm that Everton are interested in listening to offers for their player, as they are trying to balance the books to make sure they are in line with FFP regulations, after excessively spending over the last five years.

The £16.2m-rated defender has been getting in the side due to the injury crisis Everton have been experiencing, in which defender Yerry Mina is a part of, tallying up ten appearances in all competitions so far for the Toffees.

Not good enough

The 25-year-old player has not used his opportunity in the team to prove to Benitez that he should be a regular starter, in fact, quite the opposite, with fans blasting the player for being a "liability" when he was red-carded back in November for dangerous foul play on Hojberg;

One fan tweeted during the Spurs game when the side went down to ten men following the bad challenge: "Been an absolute liability since he came on Holgate."

The former West Brom centre-back went onto put in another horrific performance in Everton's ninth defeat of the season to Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend, only making one interception, tackle and clearance during the entire game that lead to conceding three goals according to SofaScore.

As far as his overall season is concerned, his statistics don't get much better, as recorded by SofaScore, the defender on average, has a shocking 0.3 of possession won per game, loses the majority of his duels (51%) and has recorded only one clean sheet from the eight games he has featured in the Premier League so far.

Based on that, it's rather remarkable that he was once dubbed "Mr Dependable" by reporter Sam Carroll.

If Burnley are in fact interested in Holgate, Benitez should do everything he can to facilitate the move to raise funds so that he can replace him with a more reliable defender to cover Mina in his absence.

In other news: Alan Myers reveals more about clubs chasing Lucas Digne