Everton striker plan emerges as Ashley Young signs amid links to Moussa Dembele, FFP pressure to stretch on 12 months-plus
Everton will continue to target free agent signings on top of Ashley Young with transfer funds being saved up to be put towards a striker, according to The i.
The 38-year-old’s addition has been secured as part of a plan to avoid FFP issues, with spending set to remain low as a result for at least another year.
A goalscorer is the key consideration in the current window and while free transfers will also be considered at the position, the bulk of the cash that is available is set to go towards filling that gap.
Mark Douglas writes for the i of the Young deal: “Also the finances work for a club that needs to sell to buy, with most of the summer funds being saved to fill the club’s urgent need for at least one frontline striker.
“i understands that further free agent signings will be considered with the club ‘spinning plates’ to try and duck under restrictions under Financial Fair Play that are likely to limit the scope of their spending for at least another year.
“They are one of several clubs with an interest in former Celtic and Lyon forward Moussa Dembele.”
Grim reality
If the money that is available has to go somewhere then most Evertonians would like to see it secure a striker at long last.
But after Rodrigo’s potential move to Goodison proved to be a pipe dream as he is set to be confirmed later on Wednesday (12 July) at Al Rayyan in Qatar due to the “financials” involved [Alan Myers, 12 July], it remains to be seen what the club’s cash can actually muster.
Links to attacking options continue, but with free agents such as Dembele and Alfredo Morelos freely available there is still nobody through the doors in that department yet.
In that sense it is some relief that the move for Young is set to be confirmed at all, and while he is an aging free agent he could yet be a useful addition.
Adding more goals to this side is likely to be the difference between another relegation battle and a season of relative obscurity in mid-table.
The latter would be a relief after cutting it fine the past two seasons, so if the budget can be spent on attacking reinforcements there should, in theory, be enough in the squad elsewhere to hold up with just bargain augmentation such as Young.
In other Everton news, Sean Dyche wants to sign a golden boot winner compared to Harry Kane this summer as a surprisingly bargain fee emerges.