Everton are currently considering strengthening their midfield with the signing of Croatian international Milan Badelj, according to reports from Football Italia

Ronald Koeman is in the market to sign a new midfielder at the moment and the likes of Juan Mata, Georginio Wijnaldum and Axel Witsel have all been mentioned as potential targets for the Everton boss.

While Everton fans are certainly excited at being linked with such high profile names, one should note that there is a lot of competition in the race to sign the aforementioned players and it remains to be seen whether the Toffees are able to land any of their targets.

Koeman seems to be well aware of this fact and the 54-year-old already seems to be preparing contingency plans in the event that his pursuit for the likes of Mata, Wijnaldum and Witsel do not come into fruition by targeting Fiorentina star Milan Badelj.

Badelj may not be as high profile as the players Everton have been targeting in the past few weeks but the Croatian international is certainly a very good player and he proved this fact with fine performances in the Serie A last season.

As a result, Badelj has managed catch the attention of numerous clubs and according to reports from Football Italia, Everton are currently considering a £8.5 million bid for the midfielder.

Everton are not along in their admiration of Badelj though and claims have been made that the Toffees will be facing competition from Italian giants Milan for the Fiorentina man.