Everton and relegation rivals to fight it out for Coventry ace in summer

Fresh media reports claim Everton will find themselves in a three-horse race to sign highly-rated Coventry City striker Viktor Gyokeres in the summer transfer window.

According to this story, Gyokeres will leave the Championship club at the end of the season and the Toffees’ will have to do battle with Bournemouth and Leeds United for his signature.

Gyokeres of course, was heavily rumoured to be a major target of Everton in January, particularly once Sean Dyche was installed as manager.

Although, that didn’t put him in exclusive company as the Blues’ seemed to be linked with just about every forward on the planet by the end of the month!

In any event Coventry made it very clear they had no intention of selling him in the New Year transfer window and the story quickly went dead.

So, if Everton and Dyche want to revive a deal for the Swedish striker, they will have to wait and go back in for him at the end of the season.

And they may have to beat off the attentions of the two teams most likely – according to the bookies anyway – to be relegated alongside them this season.

Both Bournemouth and Leeds are also allegedly interested in the Sky Blues’ marksman and will try to sign him in the summer.

Given how laughable the Toffees’ January window was (especially that truly farcical deadline day) when uniquely among Premier League clubs they ended up without a single new player, I would make either of the other two clubs automatic favourites to get Gyokeres.

It was impossible to say exactly why the Blues’ had such a torrid time trying to sign players, although there were plenty of theories.

The obvious answer was that the unique chaos and uncertainty surrounding the club and the very real sense that it was a sinking ship lurching inexorably to diaster, was more than enough to put off players from taking the plunge.

Of course, the key factor to where Gyokeres moves, will be relegation. Who stays up and who goes down will obviously go a long way to deciding which of these clubs, if any, the Swede does join.

It is crystal clear to absolutely everyone, that if Dyche manages to achieve what will be the almost miraculous feat of keeping Everton up, he must have money to spend in the summer and the club have to get attacking reinforcements through the door as soon as possible.

We will see if Gyokeres is one of those players when the transfer window opens later this year.