Yesterday’s Premier League opening day defeat to Chelsea exposed as starkly as possible the desperate need for Everton to add a new forward.
It was very evident during that 1-0 loss at Goodison Park that despite some welcome improvement in how Everton performed overall, there was a fundmental lack of threat in the final third.
In fact, had the Toffees’ possessed a proper and potent goal-scoring threat they may well have got something from the game or even won it.
The Blues’ defended solidly enough, especially after the almost unbelivable loss of two of their starting defenders with Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina both going off during the match.
There was also some neat and tidy football in midfield and chances were created, several of which should have been taken.
But, that lack of pace and goal threat up front really cost Everton and nullified the improvement eslewhere, as everyone expected it would do.
Today, more names have been added to the endless list of players supposedly on the club’s radar with Ludovic Ajorque and Sasa Kalajdzic both now linked with the Blues’.
This is on top of a renewed story claiming the Toffees’ are also in the hunt for Barcelona and Holland star Memphis Depay.
That link seems extremely tenuous and very unlikely. However, the other two forwards might be more realistic targets.
Ajorque currently plys his trade in France with Strasburg where he has produced some solidly consistent stats over the past few campaigns.
Last season for example, in 31 starts he netted twelve times and added eight assists, which is a respectable set of numbers.
The Frenchman is a six foot five inches tall and powerful centre-forward who is particularly good in the air and also likes to press and defend from the front.
All of this would seem to make him a decent option as the club searches for players who can come into the team and replace Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Austrian international Kalajdzic is even taller than Ajorque and a bit of a Peter Crouch type centre-forward who has been playing in the Bundesliga with Stuttgart since 2019.
If Everton are interested in the 25-year-old they will apparently face competition from other Premier League clubs including yesterday’s opponents and Manchester United.
The usual caveats apply of course regarding these rumours and I don’t really know if either of these strikers are a genuine target or not. Of the two Ajorque seems the most realistic and would offer something similar to Calvert-Lewin.
Whoever Everton are targetting, once again it is hugely important that they get a deal done as quickly as possible because as we can all see, the need for goals in this team is getting critical.