Everton will make fresh moves to sign Dynamo Kiev forward Andriy Yarmolenko this summer and have also entered the race to sign Santos star Lucas Lima, sources have told ESPN.
New Everton shareholder Farhad Moshiri has vowed to do all he can to bring the club back towards the top of the Premier League and has outlined an ambitious programme of investment that will include the capture of some marquee signings this summer.
Ukraine international Yarmolenko is a long-time target for Everton boss Roberto Martinez and this latest move confirms Moshiri's eagerness to compete for some of the game's top talent, with Barcelona, Liverpool and Arsenal also linked with a move for the 26-year-old forward over recent months.
Yarmolenko made it clear that he would be eager to join Everton in an interview back in January, as he insisted he would rather play for a club where he would be assured of regular first-team action than become a squad player at Barcelona.
"It's better to play at Everton," Yarmolenko said. "Of course you can go to Barcelona, make a cool selfie with [Lionel] Messi, put the images on Instagram and get a million likes and be pleased with yourself, but I'm not one of those.
"For me it is important to play matches. If I do not play twice a week, I have nowhere to throw out the emotions and energy. My family will go mad. If I play, the next day I am all calm and smile. If I missed the game and lay in the house, I immediately run into a quarrel."
Everton's move for 25-year-old Lima will see the Merseyside club competing with a host of teams around Europe for the signature of the highly rated Brazil international.
Chinese clubs offered Lima a huge contract to move to their Super League in January, but he revealed he would rather stay at Santos and pursue his ultimate ambition of playing in a top European league.
"It was a lot of money," Lima told Brazilian network Globo. "If I speak about it, everyone will call me crazy. I turned down almost €1 million per month.
"I spoke to my father, with all my family. My father always says that money is not everything in life, that it is also important to be happy.
"I won't say that I do not want money or to become rich, because I'd be lying, but the choices I make are for about finding happiness, which will be found through playing football and living the dream of playing for the national team and in Europe."
Everton have made it clear that they are determined to hang on to their star names this summer and add to their squad, despite persistent stories linking striker Romelu Lukaku and defender John Stones with moves away from Goodison Park.