Reports by TodoFichajes earlier this week claimed that Everton are monitoring Lucas Vazquez’s situation at Real Madrid, and Marcel Brands should be striving to seal a free summer transfer for the Spanish maestro.

Vazquez is currently due to become a free agent at the end of the season when his £113k-per-week contract expires, having turned down the offer of a new deal and has since seen the Santiago Bernabeu hierarchy go cold over holding any further talks.

Galactico chiefs are said to have lost all trust in the forward, yet Vazquez has retained the backing of head coach Zinedine Zidane to play an important role in their La Liga title hopes after an injury for Dani Carvajal.

Vazquez snubbed extending his current stint with Real into a seventh season, as the 29-year-old felt the terms presented did not match the status of a player who has started 15 of his 18 La Liga appearances from a possible 24 so far this term.

Everton are not alone in monitoring the £13.5m-rated wide man's situation, with Valencia and Sevilla said to be considering keeping the nine-cap Spain international in his homeland while Serie A side SSC Napoli also have the three-time Champions League winner on their agenda.

The Toffees struck an agreement with Real Madrid to sign James Rodriguez on a free last summer and awarded the Colombian a £90k-per-week deal, down on the €9m-a-season (£150k-per-week) salary he earned at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Brands should now look to work his magic and strike an agreement with Vazquez for the winger to be reunited with his former playmaking partner, and deliver Carlo Ancelotti additional proven European quality at Goodison Park ahead of a campaign potentially featuring UEFA football next season.

As well as being a three-time Champions League winner, Vazquez has scored three goals and provided eight assists over 42 games in UEFA’s premier club competition. He also took a game-high four shots when Real beat Inter Milan at the San Siro last November – more than any player has averaged per game in the competition so far this season, per WhoScored.

Following the win over Antonio Conte’s Nerazzurri, Zidane praised Vazquez for his performance and his comments now deliver Brands further justification behind launching a pursuit this summer.

“He always gives everything for us. I have always valued him and what he gives to us on the pitch,” Zidane told Movistar+, via Goal. “Now he is having the opportunity to show us what he is all about.”

Everton do not have much Champions League experience in the current side, with Rodriguez (53 games), Allan (26), Bernard (25), Andre Gomes (25), Lucas Digne (23), Robin Olsen (18) and Fabian Delph (16) the only players to have made 10 or more appearances in the competition throughout their careers.

That comes on top of his new-found versatility having played at right-back for 13 of his 25 appearances this campaign, via Transfermarkt.

And with Bernard also linked with a move away last month, Brands should be snapping at Vazquez’s heels all the while he is yet to be signed up for the 2021/22 season.

As doing so would deliver Ancelotti a committed and proven option, when talent in numbers may prove vitally important for Everton to have any success.

AND in other news, a £23.5m-rated Everton ace proved his doubters wrong in Saturday’s Merseyside Derby win over Liverpool…