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The options at left back for Everton are pretty limited at the moment.



Leighton Baines is struggling with injury after injury, and is not getting any younger - the England international turned 33 in December.



Brendan Galloway is out on loan at Championship strugglers Sunderland, and Luke Garbutt wasn't registered to play in the Premier League.



Filling the void in Baines' absence has been Cuco Martina, but he is a natural right back, and has put in a series of questionable performances in the unfamiliar role.



In the wake of Theo Walcott's arrival at Goodison, fans have taken to twitter to bemoan the club's lack of action in finding someone to fill the void in defence.



And one name being linked is Bayern Munich's Juan Bernat. But just who is the man who could be Everton's next big January signing?





Where is he from?



Bernat was born in near Valencia in 1993, and made his debut for his hometown club as a left midfielder in 2011 in a 4-3 victory over Racing Santander.



He was a bit-part player in that first season, but soon became very highly-rated by the club's coaching staff - when Mauricio Pellegrino became Valencia manager in July 2012, he was given more oppotunities within the first team, amassing 15 appearances in the 2012/13 season as a teenager.



By the following season he was a key part of the Valencia side, after being converted into a left back.







Where is he at the moment?

Bernat was attracting interest from most of Europe's elite, but German heavyweights Bayern Munich snared the Spanish international for a fee of around £8m in the summer of 2014.



He made 47 appearances in all competitions in his first season in the Bundesliga, but has since found his opportunities to be more limited, and has only made two appearances so far this term.



David Alaba is the Bavarian club's main man at left back, and this is unlikely to change any time soon - the Austrian is still only 25-years old.





(Image: A. Hassenstein/Getty Images for FC Bayern)

What next for Bernat?



With Alaba dominating the left back position at Bayern, Bernat's future looks more and more to be lying elsewhere.



He is only 24-years old, and still has time to turn his stuttering career around, but will almost certainly have to leave the Allianz Arena to do so.



Bernat only has 18 months left on his contract, and appears to be surplus to requirements in Germany. He is still fairly young, and can play anywhere down the left side of the pitch.



All of this demonstrates Bernat to be an ideal target for Everton. Bayern are likely to be willing to sell, and a move for the Spaniard may be on the cards for the Blues.



With Baines' influence at Goodison Park fading as he approaches the autumn years of a hugely-impressive career, we may see that move come in sooner rather than later.