Everton Under 23s boss David Unsworth can utilise the Goodison Park outfit’s failed efforts to offload Muhamed Besic this summer in developing the club’s potential wonderkid Imam Jagne.

What’s the word?

According to the Liverpool Echo, Besic will not attempt to force his way out of Everton during the closing stages of the last major European transfer window after being omitted from Carlo Ancelotti’s 25-man Premier League squad.

The Portuguese market is the last to slam shut with Liga NOS outfits still able to do business until Sunday but is not thought to be one that appeals to Besic, who instead intends to remain at Finch Farm and focus his efforts toward securing a move in the January sales.

Besic – who will be in the final six months of his £30,000-per-week contract come the New Year – had been the subject of interest from Rangers this summer, but the Scottish Premiership giants were unable to reach an agreement to sign the 28-year-old.

It is not yet understood if Steven Gerrard’s Ibrox natives will look to revive their pursuit in the winter, but Besic’s continued presence at Finch Farm can be put to good use by Unsworth following Everton’s’ capture of Gambia-born talent Jagne.

The perfect mentor?

With Besic unable to feature in the Everton first-team until February at the earliest, the Bosnian will now be resigned to playing with the U23s should the Toffees look to award the 2021-free agent any game time over the coming months.

As part of Unsworth’s squad, however, Besic could serve as the perfect mentor to Jagne after the Toffees signed the 17-year-old from Swedish outfit BK Hacken for 15million Swedish Kroner (£1.3m) this summer.

The talented teen has signed a three-year deal with Everton and was touted to have a bright future ahead of him by Hacken manager Sonny Karlsson following the move.

“Imam is a nice guy with a nice future as a football player, who is welcome back to us when he so wishes,” said Karlsson, via quotes by Goteborgs-Posten.

However, Jagne is yet to establish himself in one defined position, as while the Sweden U17 international is listed as a defensive midfielder by TransferMarkt – who note that is where Unsworth handed him his Toffees debut against Tottenham’s U23s -  professional scouting platform Wyscout via Sport Witness shows the teen has also featured on the right-wing and in a central attacking midfield role.

Should Unsworth and Everton consider Jagne to be a defensive midfielder for the future, he could benefit vastly from drawing on Besic’s experience.

Besic has played 34 of his 56 career Everton games as the Blues’ midfield enforcer, and offered an average 3.7 tackles, 2.7 interceptions and 42.3 passes a game during his final season as a regular at Goodison Park in 2017/18, per WhoScored.

AND in other news, Everton are yet to open talks with a key club figure who’s set to be out of contract next summer.