At the top of Everton's defensive wishlist last summer was Yerry Mina and the man who replaced him at Barcelona - Clement Lenglet.
Blues' director of football Marcel Brands revealed that when it became clear Lenglet was headed for the Nou Camp, he focused all his efforts on landing Mina.
Everton signed the Colombian in a £27m deal on deadline day but he has been restricted to just nine Premier League starts because of injury.
Barca signed Lenglet from Sevilla after triggering his £30m release clause and after describing him as "one of the most promising defenders on the planet" inserted a clause of their own in his deal with the club - worth £265m.
“With the central defender, from the beginning we had Mina on our list and Lenglet on our list but he went to Barcelona quite early in the market so it was quite simple for us: go for Mina," Brands told the ECHO, last summer.
Brands' admiration for the 23-year-old is understandable when you consider the season he is enjoying at Barca, where he played a major role in keeping the Spanish giants on course for the treble.
Although Lenglet, battling with compatriot Samuel Umtiti for a place in defence, has made only 20 starts in La Liga this term he has started nine of 10 games in the Champions League.
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This summer, Everton intend to try and secure centre-back Kurt Zouma on a permanent deal this summer after he has spent the season on loan from Chelsea.
