Everton have approached Southampton manager Ronald Koeman about taking over as the new manager of the Toffees following the sacking of Roberto Martinez.

The talks have been led by majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri and the club now have to agree compensation before the talks can progress.

Compensation is believed to be in the region of £3-million, reports SkySports.

The Everton shareholder has set a long-term plan to luring the Saints manager to the Toffees, including a transfer budget and stadium plans in the hopes of convincing him to join the Merseyside club.

Both Sevilla manager Unai Emery and former Ajax Amsterdam manager Frank De Boer were considered as front-runners for the managerial job but have now drifted out after Moshiri’s interest in Koeman.

This season Koeman has guided the Saints to a sixth-place finish on the Premier League table with 63 points, picking up 18 wins, nine draws and suffering 11 defeats.

While Roberto Martinez only managed a 11th place finish on the Premier League table with 47 points.

The 42-year-old manager was sacked on May 12 after a decline in their Premier League form during the 2015-16 campaign.