Everton now have just a week and a half to prepare their squad for the opening weekend of the Premier League campaign.

The Toffees have been left behind by their rivals in the transfer window, completing deals at cut-price, rather than spending wildly.

What’s the word?

Everton look set to continue their pursuit of some cheaper options in the open market.

According to Football Insider, they have set their sights on Mexican defender Jorge Sanchez.

The 23-year-old has been playing for his country at the Olympics and is now viewed by the Toffees and Tottenham as a potential signing.

He is currently valued at just £4.5m by Transfermarkt.

Tough-tackling monster

Sanchez is by no means a household name but his performances for Mexico this summer have been fantastic.

Combine those displays with his form for Club America in his native country and you have a mighty fine player on your hands.

The full-back is capable of playing at left-back or right-back but it’s the former where he’s traditionally played in the last few years.

He is adept at going forward, completing 1.9 dribbles per game this season. With that in mind, he looks every bit the modern defender.

However, Sanchez also possesses all of the attributes you’d associate with a classic defender from days gone by.

His tough-tackling nature is hugely comparable to a player of Phil Neville’s calibre, a man who was never afraid to show his true colours by launching himself into a crunching tackle. Just ask a certain Cristiano Ronaldo what they think of his tackling ability.

Sanchez might not be a nasty player by definition but he is phenomenal when it comes to winning the ball.

The defender has won a whopping 2.5 tackles per match for Club America this term, a tally he’s come close to replicating at Tokyo 2020 with 2.3 successful challenges per game.

Neville wasn’t liked initially at Goodison Park for being a ‘Manc’ but that quickly changed after a famous tackle on Ronaldo.

Sanchez wouldn’t have a label attached to him upon arrival but he’d quickly win over supporters with his favouritism to get stuck into his opponents.

AND in other news, Everton can find a new Rodriguez by signing “magical” 37-goal gem once valued at £119m...