Everton 'agree deal to send Mason Holgate on loan to Sheffield United'

Holgate has spent the first half of the season at St Mary's, but has not been able to nail down a regular place in Russell Martin's squad.

The 27-year-old made a debut to forget back in September, being taken off shortly after the hour with Southampton 4-0 down away to Sunderland.

Holgate was then replaced at half-time in his next outing against Middlesbrough, and has played just two Championship games since.

After initially instigating talks over cancelling the loan late in December, Everton's reliable insider The Bobble claims that the two clubs have agreed to terminate the deal.

That is due to a deal being agreed between Everton and Sheffield United for Holgate to move to the Blades on loan for the rest of the season.

Stuttgart had also been linked with a move for the defender, but Chris Wilder's side are set to beat them to Holgate's signature, with a medical booked for later today.

Everton will be torn about how successful they will want the loan move to be, considering they are selling to a direct relegation rival, with both clubs in the bottom three after the midweek Premier League action.

However, with Holgate heading into the final 18 months of his contract and after one failed loan move already, Everton are running out of time to be able to cash in on the player.

Holgate was a regular under Carlo Ancelotti, but found game time difficult to come by under Rafael Benitez, Frank Lampard and Sean Dyche.

A red card away to Crystal Palace late last season in the midst of Everton's tense battle against relegation was likely the final straw, as Holgate was not with the squad for their opening games this season before his departure to the South Coast.

A future at Goodison Park is therefore unlikely for Holgate after the end of his loan at Bramall Lane, given that he is now fifth-choice at both centre-back and right-back.

Everton are under threat of losing other defensive options though, as they rebuffed advances from AC Milan for Ben Godfrey on Wednesday.

In his breakout season with the Toffees, Jarrad Branthwaite has also come in for rumoured interest from the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid, with Everton barely able to put a side of 11 senior players together given their current injury crisis.

The imminent move to South Yorkshire will see Holgate link up with former Everton team mate Tom Davies, who has had a difficult spell with injury since moving to the newly-promoted club.