Everton suffer transfer blow as rival manager not interested in letting £25m forward leave

Everton have been searching for a striker and they have scanned the Premier League and the Championship in search of a competent striker capable of doing the job in absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Southampton striker Che Adams has been on the radar of the Toffees.

Apart from Adams, Everton are looking at Ben Brereton Diaz of Blackburn Rovers. Adams comes with Premier League experience which could make him the preferred target but signing the 26 year old is not going to be an easy task.

Even though Salomon Rondon has come in to provide cover for Calvert-Lewin, Everton continues to suffer as Rondon hasn’t been as prolific as Lampard would have wanted him to be. He is impressive at hold-up play but his presence in the box almost goes unnoticed. Calvert-Lewin’s injury was a harsh reminder that the Blues will need to sign a striker in order to avoid a downfall like last season.

Earlier, there were reports suggesting that Everton had already made an approach for the Scotsman and he was open to a Goodison Park switch. Other clubs like Leeds United and Nottingham Forest have also been named as potential suitors.

Everton suffer blow in Che Adams chase

His exit reports gained momentum when Adams was an unused substitute in the first game against Tottenham Hotspur. Since then the reports of him wanting a St Mary’s exit has quelled down though the Toffees continue to monitor him.

Adams came off the bench and scored a brace to guide Southampton to a win against Leicester City. His fine form continued in the Carabao Cup where he scored a brace again, this time against League One side Cambridge United.

After the win against Cambridge, Saints boss Ralph Hassenhuttl was questioned about Adams’ future to which he gave a blunt response as to why should Southampton even consider letting Adams leave.

"He’s our player. He was last season the second best goalscorer in our team, why should we let him go? (via Hampshire Live)"

As per journalist Ben Jacobs, Saints forward Adams continues to be on Everton’s radar. Southampton will not entertain any loan offers and value him at £25 million. From Hassenhuttl’s comments it seems that it will take more than £25 million to test Southampton’s resolve and in the end it still might not be enough as the Austrian manager seems determined to keep the 26 year old.

The Merseysiders might want to shift their attention elsewhere to economically viable targets who can offer a similar goal scoring threat that Calvert-Lewin offers. With just eight days to go, things should pick up momentum soon.

Will Everton launch a bid for Che Adams?