Everton have reportedly reopened managerial talks with Sam Allardyce.
Allardyce ruled himself out of the running to succeed Ronald Koeman earlier this month, citing a lack of enthusiasm from the Goodison Park hierarchy for him.
But the former England boss is now said to be back in contention as the Blues attempt to stave off the genuine prospect of Premier League relegation.
Sky Sports claim that Allardyce’s track record of keeping clubs in the top flight has seen attention shift back to him after Everton’s failed pursuit of Marco Silva.
Watford rebuffed several approaches from Goodison for the highly-rated coach, who was identified as majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri’s preferred candidate.
Allardyce has a strong network of support within Everton’s corridors of power, with director of football Steve Walsh understood to have backed his candidacy.
Chief scout Martyn Glover also worked with the 63-year-old across his various spells in charge of Blackburn Rovers, West Ham and Sunderland.
Under-23 coach David Unsworth has taken temporary charge of Everton’s past seven matches in all competitions since Koeman’s sacking exactly five weeks ago.
But the ex-defender continues to struggle in transforming the club’s fortunes, with just one win in that time leaving him unlikely to be named manager permanently.