Everton boss might not let Demarai Gray go with current transfer struggles

While Everton are still trying to strengthen their goalscoring options in this transfer window, there are constant stories that current forward Demarai Gray might leave the club this summer.

Rumours about Gray’s future have been in circulation for weeks now and it does seem possible he will be joining a raft of others who have left Goodison Park since the window opened.

Asmir Begovic, Yerry Mina, Conar Coady, Nils Nkounkou, Tom Davies and a host of youth team players have already left Everton. Could Gray join them?

For many Blues fans the prospect of the former Leicester City player departing Merseyside wouldn’t be a major concern.

Signed for a paltry £1.5 million by Rafa Benitez in summer 2021, Gray has been a frustratingly inconsistent performer since he joined the Toffees.

At times he has played very well and shown good skill and goalscoring ability. But then on other occasions Gray has had little or no effect on the game sometimes for weeks at a time.

Last season though by default he became a key player for Sean Dyche due to all the injuries that the new manager was having to cope with, in particular of course Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s continuing absence.

Dyche ended up having to deploy Gray as an emergency centre-forward or false nine in the last few weeks and months of the campaign. Again he had a mixed impact.

Anyway, it does appear that Everton are now willing to listen to offers for him and figures of around £10-15 million have been mooted as the sort of fee the Blues could get.

On the face of it that sounds like pretty good business and it might well be, were it not for the fact that the Toffees are facing such a tough time in the transfer market.

To me it is looking increasingly possible that Everton will open their Premier League campaign against Fulham without having made another signing.

After all we saw the same problem in the January window when the club were repeatedly linked with a host of players only for those individuals to go elsewhere and the Blues to end up signing no one.

Now, fresh reports in the UK media claim that Dyche is increasingly reluctant to consider a sale as he contemplates what limited attacking options he will have when the new season kicks off.

While the money might help secure a new signing or two, the manager is facing a bit of a dilemma knowing that it has proved very challenging to get new players in, even when the Toffees have put substantial funds on the table.

So, letting another senior player and a forward go is a risk. Can he afford to take it?