Everton appear to be concerned about the future of left-back Lucas Digne at the club after enjoying a stellar first season in the Premier League, which has made him a firm favourite at Goodison Park. Not since Leighton Baines have you had Toffees had such a popular defender.

Indeed, the Toffees have reportedly expressed their interest in Benfica defender Alex Grimaldo out of fear of losing Digne in the upcoming summer transfer market. The Everton administration believe they are set to be hammered with offers for the Frenchman after his good showings this campaign and are looking to find the perfect replacement for Digne, should he leave the club in the summer.

The Sun on Sunday (via the Daily Star) now reports that Everton have lined up Grimaldo to fill that void and try and replicate a similar kind of consistency as Digne at left-back.

The 23-year-old Grimaldo has been at the Portuguese club since 2015 and has become a regular first-team player since that time. He is, however, yet to get the nod in the Spanish national team but has represented them at youth level in the past.

Should Digne indeed leave Everton in the summer then Grimaldo looks quite a solid and appropriate replacement given his young age and previous performances for Benfica. But, the club should not give up that easily in accepting Digne might be on his way out and should rather consider offering him a bigger deal to remain at the Merseyside club.

The 25-year-old, who is valued at £22.5 million (by Transfermarkt), has undoubtedly been the club's best player this season and he's been a stalwart in both defence and attack, while Everton have looked vulnerable whenever he wasn't playing.

Given the struggles Marco Silva has had this season to find his best combinations and starting lineup, losing Digne would just worsen those problems.

Keeping him at the club should, therefore, be one of their main priorities between now and next season so that Everton can head into next season with some consistency and knowing that they will have Digne as part of the back-four again.

Everton can't give up that easily. For a building project, it's vitally important they keep their best players to move forward, not constantly rely on player trading.

Everton fans, would you be gutted to see Digne depart? Join the discussion by commenting below...