Everton’s search for a striker since the injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been the story of this transfer window for Toffees’ fans ever since the sale of Richarlison to Spurs. Countless names have been mentioned yet Frank Lampard seems to be persisting with a fluid front three of Anthony Gordon, Demarai Gray, and Dwight McNeil, but with Gordon’s future in doubt could now be the time for Everton to push for a striker they desperately need?
The latest name comes from Sean Lunt of Sport Witness, who claims that Everton have joined the race for 21-year-old Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos. Ramos is coming off of a good season for Benfica, scoring seven goals with one assist, often playing second fiddle due to the breakout performance’s from the new Liverpool signing Darwin Nunez.
Wolves and Newcastle are the two clubs that were racing to sign the youngster, and it looks like Everton are once again throwing their hat into a race for a forward. The club’s method of seemingly joining late and offering more hasn’t been successful so far, but the club may have been keeping their eye on the transfer saga to see how it develops.
However, it has also been reported that Wolves made a discreet offer to Benfica of a £5 million loan with a £30 million obligation to buy which could cause a real stumbling block for a cash-strapped Everton side that seems to be looking to sign players for the cheap in an attempt to avoid any more issues with FFP.
Would Goncalo Ramos be a good signing for Everton?
Benfica are a club that always sells its players for high prices, the previously mentioned Darwin Nunez being the most recent example. It seems like Ramos is a player that will follow in the footsteps of Nunez, Ruben Dias and Joao Felix, who have all helped turn Benfica into the most profitable club (when it comes to transfers) of the 2010s where they raked in over £800 million (€953 million).
Which makes you think, would it be a good idea for Everton, a club well known for poor transfer business to negotiate with Benfica, arguably the best when it comes to making a profit off of their players? With other clubs being involved that currently have much deeper pockets than Everton, it provides a problem that has tortured the Toffees this window, the fact that FFP has them by the throat.
With all that out of the way, the question is would Ramos be a good signing for Everton? Yes, he’s a fantastic striker and has shown it by coming out of the gates firing for Benfica, with a goal and an assist in his first two Primeira Liga matches of the season. He also has four goals and one assist in his three Champions League qualification games, including in their most recent fixture against Dynamo Kyiv.
Ramos comes across as a natural predator, the type of striker that Everton haven’t had consistently since the days of Romelu Lukaku. He has shown his ability to score the ball with his head at Benfica so he could fit right in as a backup to the injured Calvert-Lewin and provide Lampard with the depth up front he has been crying out for.
Will the Toffees manage to sign Goncalo Ramos?