Everton Ready £20m January Move for Crystal Palace Stalwart as Allardyce Eyes Reunion

Sam Allardyce is ready to dip into his former club Crystal Palace for reinforcements at his resurgent Everton and has identified centre-back James Tomkins as a priority target in the New Year, according to The Sun.

The Toffees have won four of their five Premier League games since Allardyce's appointment in November and have conceded just two goals, after shipping countless goals early in the season.

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The former England manager is looking to bolster his defensive options in Merseyside and is understood to be plotting for a reunion with his former player Tomkins - who played under him at West Ham.

The 28-year-old defender has made 38 appearances for the Eagles since joining from the Hammers for £10m in 2016.

Palace are reportedly demanding at least £20m to part with one of their key assets, with Everton likely to comply having been backed by billionaire Farhad Moshiri massively in the summer.

Allardyce is a known admirer of the defender, having claimed: "Roy [Hodgson, who was then England boss] should look at James. People can scoff all they want about me saying that but James has been playing consistently well for us.

"When I look at opponents like Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill, I don’t see a huge amount of difference when I watch them playing against each other."