By Alex Beard

15th Jan, 2020 | 2:21pm

Report: Everton in for Serie A starlet

We all know that Everton need some centre back help this month. It’s been true since the start of the season that the Toffees are lacking in that area.

Indeed, Carlo Ancelotti has only three senior centre halves at his disposal: Michael Keane, Yerry Mina and Mason Holgate. That’s not exactly a laundry list of top talent.

So it’s been no surprise to see the Merseyside outfit linked with a coterie of players at the position this month.

Now, it appears that they are looking at a top young Serie A starlet. Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Wednesday that Ancelotti’s team are one of the sides chasing Hellas Verona defender Marash Kumbulla.

Despite being only 19 years of age, the Albanian has been a fairly regular performer for the Italian outfit this campaign, making 13 appearances so far.

He’s thought to be valued at £17million, but is attracting interest from a series of Europe’s top teams.

Manchester United, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta, RB Leipzig and Fiorentina are all in the hunt, while Inter Milan are thought to be leading the race.

Is Kumbulla the answer at centre back for Everton?

You would have thought that the Blues would be after an experienced centre half to come in and shore things up, but apparently not.

Kumbulla is a terrific prospect, to be fair. He’s averaging 1.7 tackles, 1.5 interceptions and 2.5 clearances per game this season.

But with so many top sides after him, would the Toffees even be able to pull off a deal? The likely answer to that question is a resounding no.

In other Everton news, one of the club’s regular performers has reportedly held talks with another team.