Gabriel Magalhaes had a long term target but he eventually chose to join Arsenal.
Defence:
Left back: Sergio Reguilon (Tottenham Hotspur)
It was rather an absurd link with Lucas Digne on top of his game for the last couple of season. Nonetheless, Sergio Reguilon was linked and reports also claimed that Everton made an £18 million bid which was rejected by Real Madrid.
Eventually, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur also entered the chase and while it looked that the Spaniard was close to moving to Old Trafford, Spurs snatched him away under United’s nose and the Red Devils couldn’t do anything.
Centre back: Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal)
Not a single Evertonian will forget the Gabriel Magalhaes transfer saga. Everton were so close to signing him with the player already undergone a medical in January. However, the deal collapsed which allowed Napoli, Arsenal, and Manchester United to jump into the race. Eventually, after weeks and weeks of rumbling on, Gabriel joined Arsenal.
Centre back: Thiago Silva (Chelsea)
Thiago Silva was one of the very first players to get linked to Everton. The Brazilian was set to leave PSG after seeing his contract and seek new pastures. Ancelotti and Silva were together at PSG when the Italian was the boss at Parc des Princes. This prompted Everton to work on reunification with Ancelotti personally calling Silva to know that the Toffees are interested in him.
After that, a lot happened, PSG reached the finals of the Champions League and with him being a free agent other fish also took notice. Chelsea ultimately signed him on a free transfer and the Toffees missed out on a veteran.
Right back: Santiago Arias (Bayer Leverkusen)
When James Rodriguez arrived from Real Madrid, it was widely expected that he’ll pull his compatriot Santiago Arias to Goodison Park as Everton continued their search for a right back. Frankly, I never understood why Everton were trying to buy a right back. Ancelotti had made it clear that Jonjoe Kenny would feature and that was the reason why he wasn’t loaned or sold.
Coming back to Santiago Arias, Atletico Madrid wanted to offload him and there was news of Everton and Bayer Leverkusen wanting the Colombian. Eventually, Arias moved to the Eternal Bridesmaids.