EVERTON are bracing themselves for an improved offer from Manchester City for Joleon Lescott today.

The Goodison club have already turned down an initial £15million bid from City but sources in Manchester have claimed they are ready to up the stakes later today.

A further move for the England international has been inevitable, particularly since Eastlands manager Mark Hughes was thwarted in his attempts to lure John Terry away from Chelsea.

That leaves Hughes with a bulging transfer war chest to splash out on a top class central defender and his next offer for Lescott is expected to be around £20million.

Meanwhile, David Moyes has challenged Jack Rodwell to show he is a quick learner – and prove that he is ready to be thrown into Premier League battle on a regular basis.

The England Under-21 international only returned from his summer break last week but hit the ground running with a series of impressive training performances in Seattle.

It was no surprise that Moyes then decided to start the 18-year-old in the friendly against River Plate but Rodwell slightly blotted his copybook in the run up to Ariel Ortega’s winning goal.

Moyes, though, is adamant that Rodwell will put it right at the first opportunity.