Everton’s opening bid for Jordan Pickford has been turned down by Sunderland.
Attempts to land the goalkeeper from the Championship side have fallen short with the Blues seeing their offer of £8 million rejected outright by the club.
Ronald Koeman has been looking to bolster his squad ahead of next season, with Europa League football returning to Goodison Park after a two-year absence.
But the manager-less Black Cats are unwilling to settle for anything less than their £30m asking price before Pickford is allowed to leave the Stadium of Light.
However Everton plan to offer no more than £15m for a player who ranked as the second-highest saver despite Sunderland’s Premier League relegation.
He made a total of 135 saves, second only to Burnley’s Tom Heaton. Everton’s current no.1 Joel Robles meanwhile ended the campaign with 10 clean sheets in 20 outings.