After Tarkowski: EFC and Lampard eyeing move for 'class' Merseyside-born talent

Everton could make a move for Manchester United midfielder James Garner this summer, while James Tarkowski is still top of the transfer wish-list. 

Garner spent the 2021/22 season on loan at Nottingham Forest, helping them win promotion to the Premier League.

The Englishman played the full 90 minutes last weekend at Wembley last weekend as Forest beat Huddersfield Town in the playoff final.

Steve Cooper’s side are thought to be keen to retain Garner for their first season back in the top flight, but new United manager Erik ten Hag will assess him before deciding whether to sanction a move (via The Athletic).

Garner, who was born in Merseyside, has two years to run on his United contract and is valued at £6.3million by Transfermarkt.

The Blues are looking at a ‘potential loan deal’ for Garner ahead of the 2022/23 season (via The Daily Mirror).

They’re ‘confident’ of making free agent centre-back Tarkowski their first signing of the summer, but Garner might prove to be the second.

Any further business after that, journalist David Maddock says, will depend upon outgoings.

Everton have done business with United as recently as January, negotiating a loan move for Donny van de Beek, and they may be about to re-open communication channels.

Intriguingly, Maddock notes that the Red Devils are interested in Dominic Calvert-Lewin, so it will be interesting to see if the two prospective deals become linked.

Everton would surely have been mightily impressed by Garner’s display in the promotion decider. He won all five of the ground duels he contested, completed 42 of his 48 passes (88%) and created three chances in an all-round display that earned him SofaScore’s man of the match award.

Former United boss Jose Mourinho told a