Ready for medicals: Everton have reached an agreement in principle to sign midfielder from Premier League rivals

Everton have reached an agreement in principle to sign Tyrique George from Premier League rivals Chelsea, according to reports.

The Toffees have been seeking more attacking options since the January window opened but the need to bolster the squad has increased significantly following an injury to Jack Grealish which is likely to rule him out of the rest of the season.

According to The Athletic journalist David Ornstein, Everton have now reached an agreement to sign George on loan with an option to buy.

He said: “Everton reach agreement in principle with Chelsea to sign Tyrique George. Deal for 19yo CFC forward loan + buy option, pending EFC ratification. England U21 int’l granted permission to travel for medical before completing transfer.”

On Sunday, it was reported that Everton had made an offer to sign the player with Sunderland also credited with an interest. The young forward was close to joining Fulham for £22m in the summer but the Cottagers have not returned this window after completing a deal for Oscar Bobb from Manchester City.

Reports earlier this week claimed George was on Manchester United’s radar after an injury to Patrick Dorgu saw them explore the market for left-sided reinforcements.

Chelsea head coach Rosenior recently said about George: “The honest answer is I don’t know (if he will leave). Tyrique is a player of immense potential who I’ve been aware of for a long time. He’s been unfortunate. The first game against Charlton, he travelled with the group. He wasn’t in the group.

“Yesterday he was on the bench. I’ve said this to the players, your background, whether you’re an academy player, whether you’ve been signed for £100m, it’s about what you do in training.

“I have to say his attitude to training and what I’ve seen his attitude in the group has been top class. So who’s to know? A lot of things have to come together for a player to leave. You need the right interest. You need the right offer. It needs to be right for the player. At the moment, I’ve had nothing in terms of Tyrique, and I continue to work with him in the group.”

Everton will hope the addition can help fire them into the European places with 14 Premier League games remaining. They travel to Fulham in their next outing before hosting Bournemouth a few days later.

Moyes’ side are ninth in the Premier League, just five points behind Liverpool in sixth. They are only two points adrift of Brentford in seventh, with the position potentially enough to secure Europa Conference League football next season.