Yobo has impressed at Everton

The deal will cost Everton an additional �3.5m to the �1m paid to French club Marseille last year.

"Joseph Yobo has now reached an agreement with Marseille and we expect the deal to be sealed within 24 hours.

"He is now our player," Everton chief executive Micheal Dunford told the club's official website.

Yobo will sign a contract that will keep him at Goodison Park until 2007.

The Nigerian central defender was on loan at Everton last season and the current deal will make Yobo the club's first full signing during the current transfer period.

Yobo had made it clear that he was keen to make his move to England a permanent one.

But a dispute over a severance payment from Marseille had delayed the completion of the transfer.