I think at best he’s been considered as a possible fall back/squad filler. All the reports at the end of the season said Moyes doesn’t rate him and doesn’t want him so I’d imagine that’s still the case. Probably agent noise tbh.
It’s always the way. Some of the bigger deals get done late. I’d rather we get top players in August than end up with rubbish now. But the risk is that you leave it late and end up with nobody.
From his tweets it seems his sources at Everton denied it but then he also said there has been a big change in keeping things confidential at the club.
On the other hand the Italian media chats a load of rubbish on the regular so it’s anybody’s guess.