Anthony Onifade

Tue 30 May 2023 21:40, UK

Everton have long been interested in signing Coventry City striker Viktor Gyokeres and can now offer him a dream scenario next season after a double May development.

The Sky Blues hotshot has enjoyed a sensational 2022/23 campaign, notching 21 goals from 49 Championship games this season and attracting interest from a host of Premier League clubs including the Toffees, who scouted him back in March.

Football League World exclusively reported on 27 January that Everton manager Sean Dyche admired the talented Swedish international and wanted to bring him to Goodison Park during the winter window, but a move was blocked by the Sky Blues.

Everton have desperately needed a goalscoring striker all season, having sold Richarlison to Tottenham for £60m last summer and boasted the second-worst record (34) in the division for goals scored.

With Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s struggles for fitness for much of the campaign and Neal Maupay’s failure to set Goodison Park alight since his move from Brighton last summer, the Blues will be prioritising a move for a quality number nine this summer.

Coventry’s exceptional hitman Gyokeres certainly fits the bill at Goodison Park, given his wonderful consistent knack of scoring goals and his arguable readiness to compete at the top level of English football.

However, such a move would have been thrown into doubt had things taken another turn during both teams’ seasons. Everton have now guaranteed their Premier League safety for next season following their 1-0 win over Bournemouth on Sunday [28 May], continuing their 70-year position as an English top-flight side but more crucially now possessing the kind of pull that could attract the attention of top talents in the Championship.

And after Coventry City’s failure to secure promotion to the Premier League following their penalty-shootout playoff final defeat to Luton Town [27 May], Gyokeres may now be tempted to finally pursue his Premier League dream elsewhere and Everton can now certainly offer him that dream scenario.

Gyokeres has been mightily impressive this season and has been a big reason for their unprecedented success in the division with so many goals and giving off a clear belief that he is ready to step up to the next level before long.

The Swedish international registered a sensational 21 goals and 12 assists in the Championship and 17 goals and five assists the previous season, becoming one of the country’s hottest goalscoring commodities and with his contract at the Sky Blues coming to an end in a year’s time, they may well be tempted to cash in this summer.

And given Everton’s desperate need for goals next season, this is an opportunity Dyche and his team simply cannot afford to miss out on.

Many Everton fans will attest to the Swede’s lack of top-flight experience and that the Blues should be targeting top-level strikers to address their goalscoring problems but Dyche won’t be losing sleep Gyokere’s lack of experience one bit, having worked wonders with Championship-level strikers before.

Also, there have been plenty of strikers who have thrived in the Championship and gone on to become Premier League world beaters, with true examples in Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Aleksandr Mitrovic to name a few.

Gyokeres is certainly in that mould.

The 24-year-old already possesses the capabilities and prowess needed to become a top-level Premier League striker and considering the pressure Everton will be under to improve next season, should they remain in the top flight, taking a risk on Gyokeres could yet prove to be a masterstroke.

Everton can now offer him the assurances he needs to take that much-needed next step in his already fledgling career.