Nathangelo Markelo is fighting to win a new contract at Everton.

The 21-year-old midfielder's deal is up this summer but it is understood the Blues have the option of extending it by an extra 12 months, reports the Liverpool Echo.

On Friday night, the young Dutch player impressed against U23 leaders Chelsea in a 2-2 draw and coach David Unsworth says he will give himself a great chance of earning a new deal if he maintains those standards.

"I thought Nathan was terrific tonight, we've moved him to more central of the three role," he said.

"He's different to Beni [Baningime], Beni will take it off the back players. Nathan is a great presser of the ball and sets things off. We've worked on that this week and, apart from the kick-off for the second-half, that's probably his best game for us this year.

"If he were to put 10 games, like that, back-to-back, I'm sure Marcel would be getting a lot of phone calls about him."