Everton have been linked with Southampton defender Cuco Martina a few times this season thanks to manager Ronald Koeman’s past tenure at the Saints. Now it appears that the defender is on Merseyside to work out the terms of a contract.

Reliable football journalist Paul Joyce confirmed the Toffees’ interest -

Everton interested in signing Cuco Martina - out of contract with Southampton — paul joyce (@_pauljoyce) May 24, 2017

Football site The Football Faithful are claiming that Martina has flown in from the Netherlands today and is currently holding talks with Everton about signing on. The Curacao international is out of contract at the end of this season and would be a free transfer.

Everton had apparently made a bid for the player back in August 2016, but the Saints rejected the £1.25m offer as they wanted to hold on to the player for backup. He went on to feature in twenty games this season for Southampton, including five Europa League games.

British media had linked the Blues with a move for Martina earlier this month, with the Toffees lack of depth in the right-back position exposed by Seamus Coleman’s leg break. Mason Holgate failed to impress being played out of position, and youngster Jonjoe Kenny, who is away with the England Under-20 World Cup team, not getting enough chances to play.

Koeman had initially signed the player from Dutch club Jong Twente during his time at Southampton. Cedric Soares is the default starter at Saints, with Claude Puel opting for Jeremy Pied as the backup over Martina.