West Ham switch opens door for Everton
Today media are claiming West Ham have made an offer for Brentford striker Said Benrahama so does that open the way for Everton to sign Josh King?
We’ve reported just yesterday that in this domestic transfer window, Everton are priortising shifting out those players who have no future at the club rather than signing anyone else.
And for a few days it looked as though West Ham were closing in on a deal for the Bournemouth and Norway striker King, a player heavily linked with a move to Goodison Park.
Now though the picture is more complicated and various stories emerged that the Hammers hadn’t in fact agreed a deal with him or the Cherries. Now it seems they might be switching their attention to another Championship striker. That player is Brentford’s Benrahama.
If that’s so then it does potentially open the door to the Toffees moving for King before this extended domestic transfer window closes next week.
King would represent a decent addition to the Blues rather threadbare striking resources, even though I would ideally prefer the other target most often associated with Everton.
That player, Ismaila Sarr, would I think be the better bet long term but his price is prohibitive and King would be a more immediate option.
It still seems fifty-fifty as to whether the Blues will bring in another striker before next Friday. Personally, I have a feeling Everton won’t be buying another forward in this remaining window.
In other transfer news, there are more reports that Everton will in fact wait for forward reinforcements until January and then make a move for the Napoli striker Arkadiusk Milik.
The 26-year-old has a number of qualities. He’s a good finisher, holds the ball up well and is pretty good in the air too., making him a decent reserve for Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
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The club were linked extensively with the Polish centre-forward as the overseas transfer window came to a close recently. But these stories included rumours that Carlo Ancelotti had decided against the move, as Milik didn’t fit into his tactical plans.
I don’t think this report is likely to be true, although Milik has been left out of the Napoli squad for the rest of the season. The Italian club have made it clear he has no future in Serie A.
Linked to this story the Liverpool Echo are looking at young teenage striker Ellis Simms as a possible alternative reserve. The Under-23’s player is on the fast track to the first-team to join others like Anthony Gordon who have broken into the side.
Simms has been a prolific goal scorer in the Toffees youth teams and although he’s young and raw now, the hope is that he will soon be ready to make that step up. If Everton don’t get another forward in before the end of next week, he might have to take that step up sooner than expected.