Ashley Williams was in Liverpool on Tuesday night as Everton closed a deal to sign the Swansea City captain for £12m,

The Wales skipper – for so long the heartbeat for club and country – is expected to sign a two-year deal.

Everton wasted little time in strengthening their central defence following the departure of John Stones to Manchester City in a £47.5m deal on Tuesday morning.

The Merseyside club – under new ownership and new management from Ronald Koeman – had a previous bid of around £10m rejected by the Swans.

Swansea last week insisted their long-term club captain was not for sale.

But on Tuesday lunchtime it was understood Koeman had finally got his man.

The 31-year old defender, who skippered Wales during their successful Euro 2016 campaign in France, said his goodbyes at the club’s training ground on Tuesday morning.

The Wolverhampton-born Welsh international signed for Swansea for £400,000 in 2008 having spent five years at Stockport.

As Williams goes, the Swans have agreed a club record £15m transfer fee for Atletico Madrid striker Borja Baston.

Baston is expected to fly in for a medical on Tuesday night and Swansea are hopeful of completing the deal before their opening Premier League game against Burnley on Saturday.

The 23-year-old looks set to be Swansea’s eighth summer acquisition, and could prove a strike partner for compatriot Fernando Llorente, who joined from Sevilla on Friday.

Having made his Atletico Madrid debut in August 2009, Baston has had season-long loan spells at Murcia, Huesca, Deportivo, Zaragoza and Eibar.

Baston’s most prolific goalscoring period has come over the last two seasons, scoring 23 league goals for Real Zaragoza in the 2014/15 season before racking up 18 goals in 36 appearances at Eibar.

The 6ft 3in target man helped Eibar to a 14th placed finish with his goals, and ranked 10th on the top goalscorer’s standings last season.