AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen were also interested in Godfrey; Norwich rejected a £26m offer for the 22-year-old earlier this week
Saturday 3 October 2020 12:11, UK
Ben Godfrey has passed his medical at Everton and the Norwich centre back is set to sign for the Premier League club on Saturday.
The deal includes an initial fee of £25m and could rise to close to £30m.
Norwich have accepted the Toffees' latest bid after previously rejecting a £26m offer for the 22-year-old which consisted of £20m up front, with a further £6m in add-ons.
Everton appear to have opted for Godfrey ahead of Carlo Ancelotti's first choice, a loan move for Chelsea's Fikayo Tomori, which now looks unlikely with Frank Lampard wanting extra cover in central defence due to the current absence of Antonio Rudiger.
Norwich boss Daniel Farke confirmed on Friday that Godfrey was close to leaving the Championship club.
"I can confirm he hasn't trained with us today (Friday) because he's in more than advanced talks with his agent and a club," said Farke. "I'd say it's likely a deal is done in the next hours or days, but if not I'm a happy man.
"Whoever signs Ben can be happy. It's no coincidence he's played for England U21s. It will be a record fee for Norwich City, so that says a lot about his potential.
"I'm pretty sure one day he'll play for the best clubs in the world. He has the potential to lead the proper Three Lions, so I'm pretty happy I've been able to work with him so far."
Godfrey made 30 top-flight appearances for Norwich as Daniel Farke's side were relegated to the Sky Bet Championship last season, but impressed nonetheless along with Max Aarons and Jamal Lewis in defence for the Canaries.
The England U21 international, who made his Young Lions debut last year and started both European U21 Championship qualifiers earlier in September, has featured three times for Norwich so far in the Championship this season.
AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen expressed interest in the defender, who Norwich were valuing at around £30m, earlier in the summer transfer window.
Everton have adopted an ambitious transfer policy in this window, with Godfrey set to become the latest arrival at Goodison Park, following the signings of of James Rodriguez, Allan and Niels Nkounkou.
The summer transfer window closes at 11pm on Monday, October 5 with a feast of activity lined up on Transfer Deadline Day on Sky Sports News and across our Sky Sports platforms.
A domestic-only window for deals between the Premier League and EFL then runs from October 5 and closes on Friday, October 16 at 5pm. Follow all the news and analysis on SSN and across Sky Sports' digital platforms, including with our dedicated Transfer Centre blog.
