Wilfried Gnonto is not the only winger Everton are considering in transfer search

Leeds United forward Wilfried Gnonto has long been of interest to Everton, who are working to strengthen Sean Dyche's wide options

Everton’s search for a new winger remains ongoing as the club looks to build on the transfer work already concluded. Wilfried Gnonto is among the names being considered by the Blues, though the interest is thought to be exploratory at this stage and director of football Kevin Thelwell is understood to be assessing other options beyond the Leeds United player.

Gnonto has been of longstanding interest - which last summer led to a tense stand-off between the 20-year-old and Elland Road bosses. Both sides were eventually able to resolve their differences but Leeds are braced for more attention on the Italy international over the coming weeks.

Leeds fought hard to keep hold of Gnonto last summer, with the club’s rejection of approaches by Everton leading to the attacker training away from the first team after he and those above him clashed against the backdrop of that interest. Those differences were resolved and he went on to feature almost 40 times in the Championship last season.

But Leeds’ long term hopes of keeping hold of Gnonton have since been weakened by the club’s failure to secure an automatic return to the Premier League. As a result, they have anticipated that Premier League sides may swoop for Gnonto - and his team-mate, Cyrensio Summerville.

Whether the Blues will launch a sustained attempt to do that - potentially boosted by the expected sale of Amadou Onana to Aston Villa for a fee of around £50m - remains to be seen. But he is a player who has long appealed to the club - as well as several others, with Newcastle United among a list of other reported interested parties.

Everton and Leeds have already done business this summer with director of football Kevin Thelwell securing the return of Jack Harrison after triggering a loan clause in his contract for a second consecutive year. Harrison’s arrival was an early coup in a busy start to the transfer window.

But his arrival does not solve the squad’s lack of depth out wide, with Lewis Dobbin’s sale to Villa and loanee Arnaut Danjuma’s return to Villarreal meaning Sean Dyche’s only senior, natural wide players are Harrison, Dwight McNeil and Ashley Young - though veteran Young now spends most of his time at full back.

Solving that issue has been identified as a priority and the Blues have already explored deals for Yankuba Minteh and Jaden Philogene so far this summer. Any potential for a move for Minteh disappeared when talks collapsed with his then club Newcastle United over negotiations that could have seen Dominic Calvert-Lewin head in the opposite direction. Minteh has since joined Brighton and Hove Albion. E

Everton then thought they were close to a deal with Hull City over Philogene, only for Aston Villa to emerge from a competitive field to swoop for their former player. The 22-year-old is still with Hull but confirmation of his return to the Midlands is expected soon.