Everton sound out Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo as potential Ronald Koeman successor

Everton have contacted Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo as they continue to identify potential candidates to succeed Ronald Koeman at Goodison Park. However, the former Valencia and Porto manager is understood to be reluctant to leave Molineux.

The Toffees do not have a wealth of managerial options available to them at this moment and have been linked with Burnley manager Sean Dyche, who has not been approached by club officials despite recent reports, and former England boss Sam Allardyce over the last few days.

The pair are currently seen as the frontrunners to succeed Koeman, but Sky Sports and AS journalist Guillem Balague revealed on Twitter that the Everton hierarchy had made contact with Santo, who has led Wolves to the top of the Championship.

Though the call of a Premier League club is usually too much to resist for most managers working in the lower rungs of the English football pyramid, Santo, 43, does not feel compelled to take over at Everton. He has no desire to leave Wolves so soon after taking over, according to Balague, who said the Portuguese would not bid farewell to the Midlands "even if the best clubs in the world came calling".

The news of Santo's reluctance will not please the powers that be at Goodison, who are divided over who should be placed in the Everton hotseat. Farhad Moshiri is keen to try and prise Marco Silva away from Vicarage Road, while Bill Kenwright is leaning towards giving interim boss David Unsworth a sustained crack at the whip.

Allardyce recently put himself forward for the job at Goodison after admitting he would consider coming out of his managerial hiatus to take control of Everton, who currently lie 18th in the Premier League title after 10 matches, though a move for the former Bolton Wanderers boss could still prove costly for the Toffees .

Crystal Palace would be due £2m in compensation if Allardyce took up the reins at Everton – or indeed any club between now and the summer of 2019 – in accordance to terms of the severance package agreed when the former West Ham United manager walked away from Selhurst Park in the summer.