Everton have seen a player swap for Marcelo Brozovc turned down by Inter Milan.
Sam Allardyce remains hopeful of adding to his squad further this month after securing both Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott in recent weeks.
The former England boss has regularly linked with a potential reunion with Steven N’Zonzi after he fell out of favour at Sevilla at the end of last year.
But Corriere Dello Sport claim that the Blues have also turned their attention to Brozovic but failed in their attempts to complete a direct player swap deal.
An out-of-favour is said to have been offered to Inter with his career stalling since securing a £23.6 million switch to Goodison Park last summer.
The Holland international had appeared set to join Fenerbahce but Serie A giants Inter allegedly rejected the proposal outright in negotiations for Brozovic.