According to The Liverpool Echo, the recently-linked Adrien Rabiot isn't actually a transfer target for Everton.

What's the word, then?

Well, French media publication FootMercato reported at the end of December that the Merseyside outfit had spoken to the 24-year-old's agent and mother Veronqiue about a potential deal.

The report said that while the priority for the Toffees is to bring a new centre-back to Goodison Park, they also sounded out central midfielder Rabiot about a potential move to England.

However, The Liverpool Echo report that the Frenchman isn't on Everton's radar as things stand.

Not too surprising

While Everton's lack of central midfield quality was there for all to see as Gylfi Sigurdsson and Morgan Schneiderlin flopped against Liverpool on Sunday with 2/10 and 3/10 ratings from The Liverpool Echo respectively, it is understandable why they may not want Rabiot – if they were indeed interested initially.

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Firstly, FootMercato report that Juventus have no intention of letting the £28.8m-rated man leave and would prefer to sacrifice Emre Can instead, which obviously makes things difficult when competing with one of the biggest sides in European football.

Secondly, while they may be short of options in the middle of the park right now because of the absences of Andre Gomes and Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Ancelotti does still have Schneiderlin, Sigurdsson, Fabian Delph and Tom Davies to select from, while Mason Holgate also played as a holding midfielder under caretaker manager Duncan Ferguson last month.

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Given some of the money spent on those aforementioned players, it is no surprise that Everton may not want to pay another significant sum for Rabiot, who still has three-and-a-half years remaining on his contract in Turin.

In addition, they are reported by The Telegraph to be set to announce record losses which could affect their spending in the transfer market, probably ending their hopes of bringing the 24-year-old to Goodison anytime soon.

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