Everton close in on Serhou Guirassy signing but Ludovic Ajorque now off the table
Everton are closing in on signing Serhou Guirassy from Rennes and the deal will end their pursuit of Ludovic Ajorque, says L’Equipe’s Cyril Olives-Berthet.
The Toffees had been one of a few English sides interested in signing the six foot six Strasbourg striker as they look to find an answer up front with Dominic Calvert-Lewin ruled out.
But they now look to be near to a deal to bring in Guinea international Guirassy and the French journalist believes that while Frank Lampard does want two signings he won’t get both the Ligue 1 forwards.
According to L’Equipe Strasbourg are one of the sides in competition for Guirassy’s signature to replace Ajorque but the Rennes man wants Everton and a deal is close, which would appear to be the crux of why they aren’t going to be signing the pair at the same time.
Olives-Berthet wrote on his personal Twitter account on Thursday night (11 August) in reference to that report: “This closes the door of Everton, [for] a time interested, to Ludo Ajorque.”
Then in response to a question about how many players the Toffees were targeting he said: “Yes 2, but they won’t do Guirassy-Ajorque. It would seem a bit illogical.”
Someone, anyone
While of course the club have to do their analysis properly to make sure they aren’t signing a player who won’t be a success at Goodison, since there have been enough of those in the Farhad Moshiri era, fans will be desperate for them to get somebody up top soon.
Salomon Rondon is now back from suspension but is hardly a prolific marksman after just three goals last season, and two of those came against Boreham Wood.
Two new attackers in this Toffees squad before the end of the window would make the whole summer seem a lot more rosy, even as the Idrissa Gueye move rumbles on.
The defensive injury nightmare has been tackled with the additions of James Tarkowski and Conor Coady, and Amadou Onana is the highlight in midfield.
There is a clear conflict of interest on Strasbourg’s part, as they would be surrendering their goal-scorer to the same destination as their preferred replacement, so it makes sense that the dual arrival won’t be Ajorque and Guirassy.
But if the 26-year-old, who scored nine league goals in a season of primarily substitute appearances, arrives for a reasonable fee it sounds promising.
If Che Adams were to be the second addition that theoretically should give the club a pair of decent options that would still allow for Calvert-Lewin to take top spot if he can ever stay fit.