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Four Everton players look to be heading for the exit door at the club - and one in particular seems to be dividing opinion.

Marco Silva and Marcel Brands made clear at the start of the transfer window that the Blues would need to undergo a massive clearout this summer, with a number of players having already left the club.

Now the ECHO understands Ashley Williams, Kevin Mirallas, Cuco Martina and Nikola Vlasic have been asked to train away from the rest of the squad as their future looks to be set.

Their days seem numbered at Everton , with the club looking to offload players whilst also bringing in more quality signings before the transfer window closes next week.

However, one of the four names has caused a little more surprise than others - Vlasic .

On the face of it, he does seem like a bit of an odd-one-out among the group of players frozen out of the first team picture at Goodison Park.

Brands and Silva have already made clear Everton need to put their faith in exciting, young talents - with Richarlison and Lucas Digne both coming into the club with their best years ahead of them.

Vlasic does seem to fit that mould, which makes his exile a bit more surprising.

There is still the overriding feeling that the Blues haven't really seen the best of the Croatian youngster yet, as there were large spells he was left out of the side last term.

After a string of impressive performances with Hajduk Split, of course including good displays against Everton in Europa League qualifying, a £10m move to Merseyside followed at the end of August.

(Image: Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)

At the start of his time with the Blues he showed off some great qualities.

Of course he was a raw talent with much to learn, but there were signs of a quality player in there with good pace and, importantly, a great work rate.

However, following the sacking of Ronald Koeman chances for the youngster started to dry up, and much of the remainder of the campaign was spent watching from the sidelines.

The 20-year-old ended the term with 19 appearances in all competitions and with two goals to his name, both against Apollon Limassol in the Europa League group stages.

And, in many ways, some Everton fans might not be surprised that his time at the club looks to be coming to an end.

Whilst there were brief signs that Vlasic could grow into a good player - the Blues just didn't see it consistently enough for the price they had paid.

Moreover, there's still an argument over what the 20-year-old's best position is on the pitch.

He has played most of his time at Everton on the wing, but doesn't seem to possess the pace or the skill that Silva seems to prefer from his wide players.

So, should his position be a more central one? Perhaps in the No. 10 role?

Playing centrally certainly benefited Vlasic against Arsenal back in October 2017 as he looked one of Everton's best players in a dismal defeat.

However, Gylfi Sigurdsson will surely be the starting player in that role, with Kieran Dowell having played in a lot of pre-season matches and probably finding himself ahead of the Croatian in the pecking order.

(Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

A young player who doesn't really fit into any position on the pitch isn't what Everton need right now - and there are multiple players ahead of him in the pecking order in any role.

Sandro Ramirez has played many pre-season games ahead of Vlasic, whilst new signing Richarlison will instantly be competing for a starting role alongside Theo Walcott and Ademola Lookman next term.

It's true that the youngster hasn't really been given a big chance to impress at Everton, but this goes to show the ruthless nature that Brands and Silva are bringing to the club.

We knew there would be 'difficult conversations' with some stars - and it looks like Vlasic is one of them.