The transfer window is called silly season for a reason, and during this time you often get your fair share of eyebrow-raising rumours.

One story that did the rounds this week was about Everton’s supposed interest in former Champions League-winning defender Branislav Ivanovic after the Serbian left Zenit earlier this month.

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The 36-year-old coming to Goodison Park was quite an exciting prospect considering the fact that he’s worked alongside Carlo Ancelotti before at Chelsea, but it seems as though it’s not to be.

What’s been said then?

Patrick Boyland and Greg O’Keeffe were discussing Everton’s summer transfer activity on the latest edition of the Gwlad Tidings podcast on The Athletic, and they inevitably came on to discussing the Ivanovic rumour.

Boyland relayed what he had been told when he asked a source at the club about this move.

“We checked it out, what came back in private was that it didn’t look like there were any legs in it at all. In fact it was rubbished a bit wasn’t it?” Boyland said (Gwlad Tidings podcast 31/6/20 29:30)

“So there’s very little legs in that one I have to be honest.”

Probably a good thing

As much as Ivanovic would add some much-needed experience to the squad after the departure of Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka over the past couple of seasons, this may be for the best.

Ivanovic is 36 now, and while he was a Champions League level defender back in the early 2010s, we’re almost a decade removed from Chelsea’s triumph in Europe, and the club would be better off going for a younger talent who Ancelotti can look to build the defence around for years to come, rather than Ivanovic who could easily be retired within the next two years.

You can never say never in football, but it looks as though we won’t be seeing Ivanovic at Goodison Park this summer.