Rennes midfielder Stephane M'Bia has openly declared he wants to join Everton.

"I really like Pierre Dreossi, the club's general manager, and I believe that is reciprocal," Mbia said. "At the end of last season, he promised me that if there was a good offer, he would accept that I could leave.

"This offer exists. It comes from Everton, who want to buy me for more than 8million euros."

He added in L'Equipe: "I want to leave Rennes. Everton are offering me 1.5 million euros a year - Rennes could never offer me that much.

"I owe everything to Rennes, my formative club. But they must understand me. In Africa, I have a family to feed. And I am very ambitious.

"Everton are a very established club in the Premier League, managed by David Moyes, a coach who puts trust in youngsters.

"I have spoken to him on the phone. He wanted to invite me to visit the club. I hadn't the time to do it."