Everton have won the race to sign James Tarkowski ahead of Newcastle and West Ham as the Toffee’s look to address their defensive issues this summer.
The 29-year-old is set to undergo a medical with the Merseyside club on Wednesday and an Everton source has told Football Insider that Tarkowski has accepted their contract offer and is now ready to complete the formalities of the move.
That contract offer is said to be worth £120,000-a-week and the Englishman will sign a long-term deal with Frank Lampard’s side states Football Insider.
The Burnley defender is an established Premier League star with 194 appearances under his belt in England’s top division and will certainly help Everton who had severe defensive issues last season, as the Toffees conceded the fifth most goals in the entire division.
Newcastle and West Ham were also two clubs interested in signing Tarkowski as they look to address depth issues within their own squads. Newcastle have been searching for a centre-back since January and only acquired Dan Burn after missing out on their primary targets.
As for West Ham, David Moyes relied heavily on both Craig Dawson and Kurt Zouma last season and with the Irons playing so many games over the course of the season, the duo were stretched to their limits by the end of the campaign. The Hammers are set to address this issue during the upcoming window and look set to sign Nayef Aguerd from Rennes according to the Daily Mail.
This is a big coup for Everton as Tarkowski has been a reliable centre-back during his time in the Premier League and the fact that the defender is free is also a bonus, as that will allow Lampard to address other key areas during the upcoming window.