Speaking to Gol Caracol, Mina’s representative said that he has no clue regarding the speculation over the centre-back’s future with the Toffees. He added that the player has a lengthy contract with the Merseyside outfit, thereby hinting that the Colombia won’t be going anywhere soon, he quipped: “We do not know anything about that. The only thing is that Yerry has a contract with Everton, it’s five years, and he has only completed the first seven months of the same contract.”

Mina had been earmarked as the central defensive partner for Michael Keane last season but he arrived with an injury from the Blaugrana. As such, loan signing Kurt Zouma earned the chance to make an impression and the Frenchman managed to partner Keane at the heart of the defence for most of the campaign.

With the new season starting next month, Mina should fancy his chances of commanding a regular starting role, given Zouma has returned to parent club Chelsea. The Toffees are understood to hold the interest of signing Zouma on a permanent deal but that appears unlikely to happen with the Blues reluctant to sell the Frenchman amid their year-long transfer ban.

Elsewhere, Zouma himself has spoken about the ambition to succeed with the west London giants and he has the opportunity to firm a starting spot with a strong pre-season. Antonio Rudiger is currently in the treatment room with a knee injury and Zouma could have the chance to partner David Luiz at centre-back when the Premier League season begins.

In a report covered by The Mail, he said: “It was really simple behind the scenes. I put the offer in and Barcelona asked for a totally different amount that we would never have paid. Then they said, ‘OK, we will wait until the end of the market’. We never changed our offer. That was a bit of gamble because everyone was writing about Man United [wanting Mina] and Barcelona used that, agents used that, everyone used it. The player said constantly to me, ‘I want to go to Everton’. That was a great thing for us but you never know if Manchester United come in and offer an extra £150,000 a week – every player would like that.”

Everton were at one stage struggling to sign a new central defender in the transfer market but they made the best use of deadline day where they managed to pursue two of them. Aside from Mina, the Merseyside outfit also landed the signature of Kurt Zouma on a season-long loan from Chelsea and the duo could end up being the preferred central defensive pair to start in the forthcoming games.

Marco Silva’s side did not have the best of pre-seasons where they managed to pick up just one victory and their Premier League opener took the same fate as they could only a muster a draw against newcomers Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Toffees found themselves with a man down within the opening half of the game but they still secured a 2-2 draw after Richarlison scored a brace on his club debut.