Ipswich now want Sam Surridge from Nottingham Forest as well as Everton ace Ellis Simms
Ipswich Town are targetting a double transfer swoop for Everton striker Ellis Simms and Nottingham Forest forward Sam Surridge this summer, according to Sunday Mirror journalist Darren Witcoop.
Simms, 22, endured a mixed year last season, thriving out on loan at Sunderland before being called back to Goodison Park in the January transfer window but barely featuring for Sean Dyche over the remainder of the campaign.
Liverpool Echo journalist Joe Thomas has previously reported that Everton will listen to serious bids for Simms this summer as they look to overhaul their first-team squad.
Taking to Twitter on Friday morning (20 June), Witcoop wrote: “Ipswich have added Nottingham Forest striker Sam Surridge to their wish list.
“Surridge has Championship admirers while Everton frontman Ellis Simms remains a target.
“Interest in Portsmouth’s Colby Bishop cooled for now but a new striker a priority at Portman Road.”
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Although Everton are severely understaffed in forward areas, it is clear that Simms isn’t in Dyche’s plans for the long run.
Even when Dominic Calvert-Lewin was out injured, and Neal Maupay remained rooted to the bench, the English manager preferred to call upon Demarai Gray as a false nine instead of calling upon the former Sunderland loanee.
The lack of game time is likely to come as a frustration to Simms moving forward, and with Tom Cannon set to return after his hugely successful loan spell at Preston, he could quite easily fall even further down the pecking order.
Dyche needs to make a string of tough decisions in order to cut down his bloated first-team squad this summer, and if a suitable offer were to arrive from Ipswich, he shouldn’t hesitate to sanction the striker’s exit from Merseyside.
There is a talented player inside Simms, but right now, he isn’t what Everton need to progress up the Premier League table.
In other Everton news, the Toffees want to sign a “prized asset” from Leeds United amid a likely Elland Road “exodus” this summer.