Everton made a late move to sign a Premier League defender on Deadline Day, according to The Telegraph's Mike McGrath.

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Who did Everton try to sign?

It has been reported that the Toffees tried to bring in Kyle Walker-Peters from Southampton in the final hours of the transfer window. However, the Saints had no interest in selling the full-back.

McGrath confirmed the news on Twitter, writing: "Everton made an enquiry for Kyle Walker-Peters in final days of the window. Southampton were not entertaining any deal."

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What were Walker-Peters' stats last season?

Walker-Peters established himself in the Southampton first-team last season following his permanent move from Tottenham, making 30 top-flight appearances for the South Coast club.

As per WhoScored, he topped the side's rankings when it came to tackles completed (83), and he also featured in the top two for successful dribbles (46).

He finished the campaign with an average WhoScored match rating of 6.84 - only James Ward-Prowse (7.07), Oriol Romeu (6.93) and Jannik Vestergaard (6.89) got higher marks amongst the Southampton squad.

What's been said about Walker-Peters?

The 24-year-old made a positive impression in his first season at St Mary's, and received praise from former Aston Villa star Lee Hendrie back in May.

Speaking to This is Futbol, Hendrie hailed Southampton's recruitment and admitted that he would have liked to have seen Walker-Peters playing at Villa Park.

He said: “Walker-Peters was a great signing. I’d have had him all day at Villa. I feel that him playing down that right side, very, very good player.

“And he’s proved it this season for Southampton and I’m pleased for him as well on that front.”

Would he have been a good addition to Everton's squad?

Absolutely.

Everton have two experienced internationals in their full-back positions at the moment in the form of Seamus Coleman and Lucas Digne. However, their back-up options are extremely limited. 

Jonjoe Kenny is an alternative to Coleman, but he has been sent out on loan on several occasions, indicating that the club are not completely convinced by him. Then at left-back, there is no obvious replacement for Digne following the departures of Thierry Small and Niels Nkounkou this summer.

Walker-Peters can play in either full-back role, as he has proven this season by switching over to left-back in the opening weeks of the campaign. He would have been the perfect understudy to Coleman and Digne, while he has also shown that he is good enough to start matches in the Premier League.

With this in mind, Everton may be a little disappointed that they did not manage to agree a deal with Southampton on Deadline Day for his services.