Everton must make striker signing before Southampton game
Despite the transfer window being open for nearly a week, Everton still haven’t made any new signings and in particular have not secured the desperately needed additional attacking talent.
All Blues’ fans know Everton have to bring in at least two, and in my view ideally three, new forwards in this transfer window, if they are to have any real chance of rescuing this season and perhaps saving Frank Lampard’s job.
Not that giving Lampard more time is the main priority. Perhaps a change on the touchline is necessary, but after so much recent managerial upheaval, the answer to the team’s myriad problems don’t simply lie in replacing him with yet another new coach.
Lampard has almost certainly bought himself a little more time after the battling FA Cup third round performance at Old Trafford on Friday night.
He may still get the sack anyway if results continue to deteriate, starting with this weekend’s crucial Premier League match against Southampton.
Once again, Everton simply have to take three points from this game against the bottom club.
Of course we all know what happened the last time the Blues’ hosted the side propping up the table in a must-win match; they were beaten by Wolves.
Getting a striker signed before the Toffees’ take to the field against the Saints would certainly help their chances of securing the points at Goodison Park this weekend.
Is it too much to ask that the Blues’ have a new forward in by then? We have been repeatedly told that the club have been working at identifying targets for a while now in anticipation of this month’s crucial window. But still no tangible progress is apparent.
Time is of course ticking along and Everton seem no nearer to getting a deal over the line.
While it isn’t easy to do deals in January and finances are tight, this club again projects uncertainty and a lack of clarity while others move quickly to try and strengthen.
One of those other clubs are Saturday’s opponents. Southampton have been making early moves in the January transfer market and are attempting to bring in a forward or two themselves.
The South Coast club are competing with the Toffees’ for the same sort of strikers that are available, particularly in the continental European marketplace.
One of these is Nigerian forward Terem Moffi. The Saints have already had a bid for him rebuffed by his current employers French club FC Lorient.
West Ham are now also supposedly interested in the 23-year-old. The Blues’ are also linked with Moffi’s team-mate Dango Ouattara.
Both Southampton and West Ham are direct rivals of Everton in the murky depths of the Premier League relegation zone.
And all these rumours underlines how important it is for the Blues’ to do everthing possible to make something happen before they lose out on this kind of affordable attacking talent.
Do I honestly expect the Toffees’ to have made enough progress to be able to field a new striking signing on Saturday afternoon? No I don’t.
But, this failure to move quickly is compounding the inability of the club to recruit attacking talent in the summer. So, the question remains will the Blues’ get it done in time to save the season?