Saints boss Ronald Koeman is today on the verge of walking out on the club.

 The Dutchman has reportedly agreed terms with Everton, and could be announced as the Toffees’ new boss within the next 24 hours.

Reports suggest Koeman, who has a year left on his St Mary’s contract, has been tempted to swap the south coast for Merseyside because of the size of the transfer budget that new owner Farhad Moshiri is prepared to give him.

Though Saints have always backed Koeman in the transfer market, Everton’s potential budget is far bigger than he could ever realistically expect at St Mary’s.

Everton will have to pay Saints compensation for the final year of his contract, which is believed to be over £3m.

Koeman has twice led Saints to their best ever Premier League finish in his two seasons in England.

He led them to a seventh place finish in 2014/15 and a sixth placed finish in 2015/16. In contrast, Everton finished 11th in both seasons – 13 and 16 points respectively behind Koeman’s Saints.

Koeman has agreed a deal with Everton to become their new manager, his agent has reportedly told Dutch media.

 Agent Rob Jansen said, according to the popular Voetbal Interntional website, that it was now down to Southampton and Everton to agree a compensation package for the Dutchman, who has a year remaining on his contract at St Mary's.

 Jansen is quoted as saying: ''We have reached an agreement with Everton. Now it is up to the clubs.''

 Koeman, who this season steered Southampton to sixth-place finish in the Barclays Premier League, hinted following the 4-1 home win against Crystal Palace on the final day of the campaign that he would like to see signs of ambition from the club before he committed to a new contract.

 He said: ''It is important to know what we can do to be stronger because in my opinion that's ambition.

 ''If you don't have that ambition, you start to be sloppy and that is not what I like to be.''

 Should Koeman complete a switch to Everton he would be reunited at Goodison Park with Arouna Kone and Steven Pienaar, whom he managed at PSV Eindhoven and Ajax respectively.

 Everton are rebuilding following the arrival of the club's new major shareholder, Farhad Moshiri.