Everton eye move for Leicester City player amid Ben Godfrey interest | OneFootball

Premier League side Everton are eyeing up a shock move for Leicester City centre-back Harry Souttar, according to TeamTalk.

The Toffees are said to be keen on the defender as a potential replacement for Ben Godfrey, who has attracted interest from both Genoa and Leeds United this month.

However, Sean Dyche will only consider letting Godfrey leave the club if they have a replacement lined up, with the Toffees boss reluctant to weaken his squad with a potential Premier League relegation battle on their hands.

Dyche is said to be looking at a number of defensive targets, one of whom is Souttar, with the player finding himself out of favour at the King Power Stadium this season.

Everton's interest in Harry Souttar

It's been a difficult season for the Australian international at Leicester City. The 25-year-old has barely featured under Enzo Maresca as the Foxes have marched to the top of the Championship table.

In total, Souttar has made just three Championship appearances for his club this season, starting just once, totaling 98 minutes of league football.

The Australian has struggled to make the Foxes' matchday squad at times this season and Maresca doesn't appear to rate him, despite the club forking out £15million to sign him from Stoke City in January 2023, according to Optus Sport.

Despite this, Souttar could still be a good signing for Everton thanks to his age and previous Premier League experience. He was a member of the Leicester City side that was relegated in May 2023, playing 12 games during the second-half of the season as the Foxes finished 18th and were ironically relegated at the expense of Everton.

The Scottish-born Australian international is currently away with the Socceroos as part of their AFC Asian Cup campaign held in Qatar.

His side have progressed to the Quarter-final stage after a 4-0 win over Indonesia on Sunday where Souttar scored his side's fourth goal. The Leicester man is a prolific goalscorer for his national side, having scored ten goals in 21 appearances.

It remains to be seen if the player being in Qatar will have any implications on any potential move this month, but a move away from the King Power could be a good deal for all parties.

Harry Souttar needs playing time

A move to Goodison Park could revitalize Souttar's career with the player fully aware that he needs to play regular football.

He told the West Australian “A club move has not even crossed my mind. As soon as I came into camp it was just full concentration on what this tournament is and how we’re going to succeed.

“My full concentration is on Australia and I think it would be disrespectful to the country, my team-mates, the staff here if my head was anywhere else and thinking about these other things when we’ve got a massive tournament here.

“All I will say is that obviously it’s not been great that I’ve not got match minutes at my club and obviously I know that that can’t continue if I want to be a part of the national team.”

With Souttar contracted at the King Power Stadium until 2028, you could expect the Foxes to command a sizeable fee to let the player leave this month.

Having played just four times this season across all competitions, and 16 times in total since making the move a year ago, it could be a good move for all parties if Souttar was to depart.

The Foxes are said to be open to letting the player move on as it would free up space in their squad and allow them to make signings prior to Thursday's 11pm deadline.

Things haven't worked out for Souttar at Leicester, but there's no doubt he could still be a success elsewhere.