George Overhill

Wed 7 June 2023 19:10, UK

Everton want to sign “at least” two new strikers this summer as Sean Dyche embarks on a rebuild of the playing squad, i News reports.

The Toffees boss kept the club up on the final day of the season despite recurring injuries to Dominic Calvert-Lewin and a lack of production from Neal Maupay, while Ellis Simms still lacks experience.

Loans and the free agent market will reportedly be a part of the strategy during the transfer window, and Lyon’s exit bound forward Moussa Dembele is a target with his contract about to expire in France.

At the same, Roma’s Tammy Abraham is considered the sort of “marquee signing the club craves” but would likely be financially out of reach.

Vital

Anyone with even a passing interest in Everton knows that they have needed more up front for at least two seasons.

Even before the £60million departure of Richarlison a year ago the options were depleted by Calvert-Lewin’s fitness worries and Salomon Rondon’s lack of goal return.

So with the Brazilian now long gone, and the Venezuelan replaced by the equally goal-shy Maupay from Brighton last summer, the need for signings in attack could hardly be a higher priority.

The signing of the Frenchman a year ago looked reasonable on paper at the time, but the failure to ever play him in a system that worked has largely made it a waste of time and he could leave after just a season if mooted interest from Europe materialises.

Dembele, 26, is coming off a lean year at Lyon but scored 21 in the league the season prior and has Premier League experience.

And as a free transfer Everton should probably be booting the door down to get him in early this summer, before viable options dry up.

That would give them the whole window to source a second, and assess their options with Simms and perhaps Tom Cannon.

The record in the transfer market has been less than sparkling of late but Dembele and another suitable scorer this summer would go a long way to rectifying that.