The Athletic's Southampton correspondent Carl Anka has offered an update on the future of Pierre-Emile Højbjerg amid interest from Everton.

What's the word, then?

Well, Sky Sports and Gianluca Di Marzio broke the story on the Transfer Centre, which revealed that the Toffees have made the Denmark international their primary target this month as Carlo Ancelotti looks to add another midfielder to his ranks.

Di Marzio added that the Saints would demand a fee of around £35m, which the Merseysiders are reluctant to pay.

Højbjerg arrived from Bayern Munich in 2016 for a fee of £12.8m, and has since gone on to make over 120 appearances for the club while also earning the captain's armband in the process.

So far this term, he has made 22 Premier League starts, helping Ralph Hasenhuttl's men sit ninth with 31 points to their name.

What did Anka say?

In a Q&A session on Friday afternoon, The Athletic journalist offered an update on Everton's interest in Højbjerg and what he thinks the chances of such a transfer happening are, with just a week to go until deadline day.

Anka said that, after doing some digging, he has learned that Ancelotti is a "big fan" of the 24-year-old midfielder, although the Southampton correspondent also added that he "highly doubts" this move will happen so late on in the window - he also wrote that second quote in capital letters, emphasising just how unlikely it is, we feel.

The journalist also mentioned that it will be "interesting" to see if the 'gentleman's agreement' between Højbjerg and the club makes itself known when the Saints reach 36 points - Anka said that the details of said agreement, which happened last summer, are unknown, although he thinks that it means the Dane was "waiting to see if RH (Hasenhuttl) is a good enough coach so I'm not worrying about relegation before I commit."

Call yourself a Premier League expert? How much did each of these big-money January signings cost?

It would be a significant moment for Southampton to lose their captain this late in the month, although he can only wait and see what happens at this point.

In other news, a Daily Echo journalist has revealed how much it would cost to convince Southampton to sell Jannik Vestergaard...