Everton made a late move to sign £7.4m veteran but the forward rejected the move

The transfer window slammed shut and Everton failed to get a single deal over the line. In fact, Everton are the only Premier League side to not have signed any player in the winter transfer window. In the culminating stages of the transfer deadline day, the Toffees launched an audacious attempt to sign AC Milan forward Olivier Giroud.

Since the transfer window opened, signing a striker was on Everton’s agenda. In fact, it was a priority for the Toffees as their underwhelming frontline had been struggling to get goals and win games. The Merseysiders just had 15 goals in 20 Premier League games and as a consequence of the poor goalscoring, they sit joint bottom of the table with 15 points.

Everton were working to sign attacking players and did come close to signing Arnaut Danjuma. The player also underwent medical at Merseyside and even did the media duties. All that remained was the signing of the documents and the official announcement. However, at the eleventh hour, Tottenham came in and hijacked the deal as Danjuma decided to go to Spurs after Frank Lampard’s sacking.

In the final week of the transfer window, the Toffees also sanctioned the sale of their academy graduate Anthony Gordon for £40 million, giving EFC some much needed funds to bolster the attack.

Everton made a last gasp move to sign Olivier Giroud on loan

On transfer deadline day, the Merseysiders were trying to sign Kamaldeen Sulemana, as a £22 million bid was accepted a day ago. However, the Ghanaian chose to sign for Southampton as Stade Rennais also had a £22 million agreement with the Saints. Everton also lost a second transfer battle to Southampton on deadline day as Paul Onuachu signed for the south coast side.

Despite all the links to Viktor Gyokoers and Che Adams, there was no movement on deadline day. In the final few hours of the window, EFC launched a loan with an obligation to buy for Ismaila Sarr. If the Toffees did survive the relegation battle, they would buy the Senegalese for £30 million. The proposal was rejected by Watford as they wanted to keep their prized asset at the club.

Everton also made a move for Sheffield United striker Iliman Ndiaye but the Blades rejected that offer too. Back to the drawing board, EFC made an attempt to sign 2018 World Cup winner Giroud. According to GFFN, the Toffees were trying to lure the 36 year old back to the Premier League.

Everton offered a loan deal until the end of the season and had bonuses included if Giroud helped the Toffees avoid relegation. If the French striker was able to lead Everton to safety, the club would have signed the former Arsenal man permanently for £7.4 million on a one year deal. However, Giroud rejected the offer from Everton in favour of staying at AC Milan. His stance was understandable given he is comfortable in Milan and there was little incentive to return to England and play for a side that is battling relegation.

EFC have now gotten into even bigger trouble as they now have a weaker squad and instead of strengthening the team, the Gordon sale has further weakened the side and left Sean Dyche with bare minimum options to work with.

Was Olivier Giroud the right target for the Toffees?