Premier League's heavyweights have been alerted by the presence of a £22m buyout clause in Marouane Fellaini's contract, which can only be triggered by a club in the Champions League, reports the Daily Mail.

The Belgian has started 16 Premier League games for Everton this season, scoring eight goals and notching up three assists in the process. Chelsea and Arsenal have previously been linked with the 25-year-old and the European champions are understood to be favourites to land the midfielder as they look for a replacement for veteran Frank Lampard. The Blues have refused to offer Lampard a contract extension and his agent has confirmed that the player will leave the club in the summer.

Marouane Fellaini
Reuters

Fellaini had previously iterated his desire to play for a team in the Champions League, but backtracked on his comments after coming under fire from the club and fans. David Moyes has recently stressed that the club would not sell Fellaini in January but the Scot is also aware of the fact that things can change quickly in the transfer window, reminiscent of Mikel Arteta's move to Arsenal in the final hour of the 2011 summer transfer window. Everton have recently posted a loss of £9m for last season, but Moyes is adamant that the figures won't have any bearing on the Toffees's transfer activity in January.

"I don't really study the figures too much. I just know we sold a lot of players last year. There is no pressure to sell [Leighton] Baines or Fellaini, nothing like that. Remember we have recently sold Jack Rodwell. Last season we sold Arteta, so we have sold one or two players. Things can happen very quickly, albeit my plans aren't to sell anybody," the manager said.

Moyes will be boosted by the fact that Fellaini has agreed to see out his contract, which runs till 2016, and help Everton in their attempt to qualify for the Champions League this season. The Merseyside outfit are currently fifth in the league, two points behind Chelsea, who have played a game less.