Everton transfers news as scouts watch new striker target Duk score Aberdeen winner in last 72-hours
Everton are considering Aberdeen striker Duk in their hunt for a striker and watched him score his 18th goal of the season on Friday night, the Daily Mail reports.
The 23-year-old netted the winner in the Scottish club’s 1-0 win over Ross County on 14 April, his 16th league goal of the SPFL campaign.
The Toffees are “staring the Championship in the face” with a gaping hole at the head of their line, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin missing for long stretches of the season and Neal Maupay having netted only once all season.
So the club have turned their attentions north of the border and are now looking at the Cape Verdi international who has enjoyed a strong debut campaign in Scotland.
However, Fabrizio Romano has reported via Twitter that newly-promoted Burnley, as well as Hull and Blackburn are also monitoring the player performing at “excellent levels”.
The Italian transfer authority added: “Aberdeen signed Duk from Benfica on 50% deal for free.”
Outside the box
Everton have been linked to numerous strikers in the past 12 months since Richarlison was sold to Tottenham on top of Calvert-Lewin’s rotten injury luck.
Maupay’s £15million arrival from Brighton [BBC Sport, 26 August] has proven to be the sole deal that was successfully completed, amid a total flop in the January transfer window.
The Frenchman has turned out to be a major disappointment, through a combination of poor form and unsuitability for either Frank Lampard or Sean Dyche’s system.
It may be a sign that the club are reacting to their failures in the winter market and the looming financial concerns, with the Premier League charge hanging over them, that they are looking at a player who moved to Scotland for free in the summer.
But Everton can’t afford to leave any stone unturned if they are to ever successfully find an answer to an issue that has gone way beyond a problem position for them, and Duk, full name Luis Lopes, has helped fire his side to third in the SPFL table behind Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers.
But the worst case scenario may even be that this is one that is being looked at in case Sean Dyche is unable to rescue the Toffees from relegation.