Everton appear to be closing in on their first summer signing from the Spanish league, and no it's not James Rodriguez just yet...

What's the word?

According to AS (via Sport Witness), the Toffees are set to complete a deal for Atletico Madrid right-back Santiago Arias who is almost certain to leave the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium this off-season.

It's claimed that Diego Simeone needs to sell the 28-year-old in order to raise funds to bring in new additions and Arias is at the front of the queue to be sold.

He's expected to cost Everton around €15m (£13.5m) with Marcel Brands the driving force behind the deal.

Bargain move

This could actually be quite the bargain for the Merseysiders this summer as Carlo Ancelotti is in need of genuine competition for Seamus Coleman.

Everton would have had to pay the same fee to make Djibril Sidibe's loan move permanent, but the Frenchman didn't really impress during his 25 Premier League appearances.

And when you see Chelsea paying £50m for Ben Chilwell, who plays in a similar position, then it only emphasises this deal as a potential steal.

The Atletico ace is a regular at international level for Colombia and has been a dependable defensive asset this term, averaging 2.6 tackles, 1.4 interceptions, 1.1 clearances and 0.8 key passes per game, via WhoScored.

Arias is also a player Brands knows very well having signed him for PSV Eindhoven in 2013 and later claimed the right-back was "the perfect model of the modern defender: pacy, powerful and attack-minded. There are not many players with such qualities."

It seems like Everton have a very reliable option on their hands, one that could provide genuine competition to the skipper, so Brands must be lauded for this move if it does indeed happen.

AND in other news, Darren Bent tips Marco Silva target to finally join the Toffees...