Everton have reportedly told Manchester City that it will take a bid of at least £40m to prise Mason Holgate away from Goodison Park this summer.
City are in the market for defensive reinforcements having been forced to deploy Fernandinho as a makeshift centre-back for much of the campaign following the departure of Vincent Kompany and an injury to Aymeric Laporte.
Reports earlier this week suggested that the champions were lining up a £30m bid for Holgate, having identified the 23-year-old as one of their top targets to bolster their backline.
However, Football Insider claims that Everton will not consider anything less than £40m for a player who has established himself as a first-team regular for the Toffees this season.
Holgate has made 17 Premier League starts for the Merseyside outfit in 2019-20, moving ahead of Michael Keane in the pecking order at Goodison.
Should Man City get their man then Holgate would follow in the footsteps of John Stones by moving from Barnsley to Everton to Man City, the latter of whom signed Stones from the Toffees for £47.5m in 2016.
Barney Corkhill
