Share and Follow
Everton have agreed a deal with Manchester United worth £15million for midfielder James Garner, talkSPORT understands.
Garner, 21, had also attracted interest from Southampton after being told he can leave Old Trafford.
The England Under-21 international impressed on loan at Nottingham Forest last season, playing a key role as the club won promotion from the Championship.
He returned to United in the summer and had been hoping to impress new boss Erik ten Hag.
But he has yet to feature in United’s opening four games and with Casemiro and Christian Eriksen arriving, his chances of game time are limited.
Now Ten Hag has given Garner – who has been at United since the age of eight – the green light to move and he is set to join Everton for a fee of £15million.
Garner was rated highly by United and considered a future first team star, with midfielders Fred and Bruno Fernandes previously hailing the youngster.
Speaking in 2020, Fred said of Garner: “Not because he is in the same position as me, but he is a player who has an impressive vision of the game and has a huge future for United.
“In addition to the impressive game vision, he always plays with his head up, has an impressive shot and an incredible pass, he is a player I admire a lot.”
Earlier this year, Fernandes conducted a question and answer session on Twitter and when asked who the best player is in the club’s academy he replied: “James Garner”.
But the youngster will now look to fulfil his undoubted potential away from United under legendary former England midfielder Frank Lampard.
He will become the seventh signing for the Toffees in this transfer window.
Amadou Onana, Dwight McNeil, James Tarkowski and Neal Maupay have all joined on a permanent basis, while Conor Coady and Ruben Vinagre have signed on loan.
The Toffees are also hoping to complete a deal to re-sign midfielder Idrissa Gueye from Paris Saint-Germain.
