City of STARS - but who will ride Blues' rumour mill?

A LOOK AT THE LINKS DOMINATING THE WINDOW SO FAR...

- By JOE THOMAS

EVERY transfer window is a whirl of speculation but, this summer, the rumour mill seems to have set up camp outside the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Dozens have already been linked during a close season that is still just weeks old.

And so far, only two have advanced into serious talks.

One, Carlos Alcaraz, was already wearing Royal Blue when the players left the pitch after that final day win at Newcastle United.

The 22-year-old was on loan when he glanced in Vitalii Mykolenko’s cross at St James’ Park and the call to make his move from Flamengo a permanent one will have been one of the easiest decisions of either of David Moyes’ stints with Everton.

Solving the longstanding problem at right-back was another important job on the summer wishlist and, with the club having advanced in talks with Fulham's Kenny Tete, they are on the cusp of taking a step towards resolving that issue.

Tete was one of a quartet of right-backs spoken about as candidates for that job over recent weeks.

Vladimir Coufal, who will leave West Ham United when his contract expires, was an easy link given his previous success under Moyes, though he did not start the summer high on his old boss's radar.

Kyle Walker-Peters, set to leave Southampton, was another who returned to the Everton conversation he, like Juventus attacker Timothy Weah and Leicester City midfielder Wilfried Ndidi, seem to get linked to the Blues every six months. All three have again over recent weeks.

One of the more interesting themes of the window so far has been the willingness to suggest Everton as the next destination for those with questions over their Manchester City futures.

Kyle Walker was the fourth right-back candidate to be named as a possible target for Everton following his stint with AC Milan. The ECHO reported last week that, at the time, he was not thought to be a priority.