Everton reportedly still have an interest in signing a player that they were linked with during the previous summer transfer window.

According to a recent report from Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), Everton’s interest in Udinese defender, Rodrigo Becao, has not gone away after initially being linked with him over the summer.

Becao joined Udinese from Brazilian club EC Bahia back in the 2019 summer transfer window.

Since then, the 26-year-old has made 111 appearances for the Italian club across all competitions, chipping in with five goals and three assists along the way.

With nine Serie A appearances to his name this season, the defender has racked up the third-highest number of clearances (17) at the club as well as the joint-third-highest number of blocks (10).

He also has the highest average of tackles per game at Udinese (3), further highlighting how much of a capable defender he is and how much of a useful figure he could be for Frank Lampard’s side.

This average would put him second in Everton’s list for tackles per game this season behind Nathan Patterson (4).

Becao also has an overall performance rating of 6.95/10 from WhoScored for his efforts this season, which would make him the second-highest rated outfield player at Everton by the same metric.

Hailed as an “insurmountable” player on the pitch by journalist Bruno Queiroz, the £13k-per-week Udinese figure clearly has enough in him as a player for the Merseyside club to keep their interest in signing him.

Even though the Toffees have a healthy number of centre-backs in their squad at the moment, adding the Brazilian to the mix could offer some extra strength, depth and competition to Lampard’s ranks in that area.

Moving forward, with the January transfer window approaching, if an opportunity arises to sign the defender, the Toffees should definitely explore the possibility and see what it would take for the Italian club to sell their Brazilian centre-back.