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Striker Chermiti finally signs on dotted line but Everton still need more

By Matt Townsend

FARO, PORTUGAL - JULY 19: Youssef Chermiti of Sporting CP with Patrik Hrosovsky of KRC Genk in action during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Sporting CP and KRC Genk at Estadio Algarve on July 19, 2023 in Faro, Portugal. (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
FARO, PORTUGAL - JULY 19: Youssef Chermiti of Sporting CP with Patrik Hrosovsky of KRC Genk in action during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Sporting CP and KRC Genk at Estadio Algarve on July 19, 2023 in Faro, Portugal. (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images) /
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After the all too inevitably long drawn-out process, Youssef Chermiti has finally been officially confirmed as an Everton player today.

The 19-year-old Portuguese striker was unveiled at last by the Blues at the club’s Finch Farm training centre and spoke of his desire to contribute to improving his new team.

It was all predictable and solid enough stuff and let us hope this young forward can continue to improve and make his mark at Everton as soon as possible.

The former Sporting starlet has agreed a four-year deal and presumably will go into the first-team squad once all the endless paperwork has been completed with the Premier League.

But, it is of course a tall ask to expect such a young and inexperienced striker to make an immediate impact for his new club, especially when he hasn’t played a single minute in the Premier League.

And this is the problem, as the Toffees need players who can start contributing and scoring goals straight away with Dominic Calvert-Lewin again a serious doubt for tomorrow’s opening day fixture against Fulham.

At the moment Everton are also said to be pursuing deals for two other youthful forwards, Wilfried Gnonto of Leeds United and PSG’s Hugo Ekitike.

However, news has just broken as I write this, that Gnonto is not for sale while Ekitike is almost certain to choose one of the host of other European clubs interested in him.

Dyche doesn’t even appear to know about the alledged bid for the Frenchman!

Again though, both these two are inexperienced (although Gnonto played in the top flight last season) and so making a significant impact immediately would be a challenge for all these players.

Surely, Everton need to look at more realistic targets with some Premier League experience?

I really want to believe that Chermiti can hit the ground running and make a success of what is a big move to a new country and League for such a young player.

He is tall, pacey and good in the air making him something of a Calvert-Lewin type centre-forward, which is obviously a key reason why the club have worked so hard to bring him in.

The worry is that we saw all this a few years ago with Moise Kean when he was a highly-rated teenager and signed for Everton in summer 2018.

That move quickly came unstuck with Kean suffering from homesickness and struggling to get into the Toffees team before he eventually left for Paris and then back to Italy and Juventus.

Fingers crossed then history won’t be repeated.

Regardless of whether he does settle smoothly into life on Merseyside, in truth the Blues desperately need proven goalscorers now, more than prospects who might one day become good players.

Despite all the rumours and stories of bids and interest in this forward or that, Everton begin another long and challenging season with huge questions over who will score the goals they need to stay in the Premier League.

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