Everton told to pair Danjuma with scrappy 11-goal striker rather than risky £34m star transfer

Transfer insider Dean Jones does not feel like Everton should take a “big-money risk” on El Bilal Toure, and should instead look to a player like ex-Rangers forward Alfredo Morelos.

Thriving in attacking areas has been a problem for the Toffees of late. In last season’s Premier League, only Wolves scored less than their 34 goals. Top goalscorer Dwight McNeil scored just seven times in all competitions.

When Sean Dyche arrived at the club in the winter, with the few days he had before the window closed, he attempted to bring in a number of attacking options, each pursuit coming to no avail. One of those was for Arnaut Danjuma, who snubbed the club after agreeing to sign, instead deciding to join Tottenham.

Danjuma has now joined, stating the move has “been a long time coming”. He’ll add to the attacking prowess of the side, but Dyche will want more – Everton are apparently ready to shell £34million on Almeira forward Toure.

Transfer insider Jones feels that’s a risk, and the Toffees should instead look at somebody like ex-Rangers star Morelos.

“I mean, it doesn’t feel like a moment where Everton can afford to take a big-money risk on someone like this,” Jones told GIVEMESPORT.

“I’d personally find that hugely surprising if they were to do something like that and I do think they’d be better off looking at someone like Morelos, who has a lot of qualities to offer — the ultimate one being the fighting quality that I think Sean Dyche would absolutely love.”

Indeed, hard-nosed Dyche is likely to be a fan of a fiery character that he knows is going to fight for his side. After narrowly avoiding relegation for the past two seasons in a row, thy might need somebody who’s definitely going to put up a fight.

Morelos will certainly do that – while it’s suggests he’s somewhat hotheaded, that he’s picked up 74 yellow cards and eight reds in his career speaks of a player with a lot of passion.

What’s more, he’s a useful asset in front of goal, having bagged 11 league goals in each of his last three seasons in Scotland before becoming a free agent at the conclusion of his Rangers deal.

That means he’d be free, rather than the £34million outlay the Toffees are willing to pay for Toure. Either man could perform well or flop if they were to join Everton, but the downside for the latter doing so might outweigh the potential upside.

Everton want to sign ‘frightening’ £25m Championship player ahead of Marseille

Ismaila Sarr is a name you can’t get away from in most transfer windows and the Watford man is once again in the headlines this weekend.

Sarr is regarded as one of the standout players in the Championship and had a decent season with Watford, despite their struggles back in the second tier in the main.

The Senegal star is wanted by West Ham, with their interest made known around a month ago. However, according to Foot Mercato and their journalist Santi Aouna, Everton are now keen.

Foot Mercato reports how Sarr is wanted by Marseille. The French side are apparently putting a bid together to sign Sarr, despite having just landed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Following his own report up on Twitter, Aouna confirms that Everton are interested in Sarr as well.

The Toffees are looking to strengthen this summer as Sean Dyche looks to avoid a repeat of another relegation dogfight.

Lauded as being a ‘frightening‘ winger, Sarr has electric pace and shone for Watford in the season they went down.

Sarr was previousl the subject of a £25m bid from Aston Villa as well. Certainly, he is a wanted man when it comes to players in the Championship.

Ideal for Everton

With talk of Demarai Gray potentially moving on, Ismaila Sarr would be an ideal player to come in for Everton right now.

They could use his speed and quickness in wide areas and the fact he knows the league well already is a bonus.

Sarr has done well with Watford and did well not to kick up a fuss and leave last term. However, he probably fancies a move now and Everton and Dyche can be good for him.

Of course, Marseille will fancy their own chances of getting yet another deal done. But if not, then Everton need to be ready to pounce.

Everton transfer could be completed ‘in the next few hours’ – Absence from game hints at impending deal

Arnaut Danjuma’s loan move to Everton could be finalised ‘in the next few hours’ as he was left out of Villarreal’s pre-season clash with Hannover.

That’s according to Mundo Deportivo and AS, who say his absence for Villarreal’s third game of pre-season is ‘suspicious’ and hints he’s close to leaving.

Mundo state that Danjuma’s absence from the game ‘makes it clear’ that he could leave ‘in the next few hours’ as the negotiations for his move to Everton are ‘well advanced’.

The Spanish club and the forward have everything arranged for the loan deal to happen, something which already saw him miss out on their previously friendly.

Mundo now state that ‘everything points’ to the operation being closed in the next few hours and him finally moving to Goodison Park.

AS say similar and that his absence from the Hannover game almost certifies that he will be departing Villarreal sooner rather than later.

Negotiations with the Toffees are ‘very advanced’ and in fact the Dutch forward has ‘already closed’ his transfer to Merseyside.

According to their information, all that remains is for the procedures to be completed, we’ll assume they mean a medical and relevant documents being signed, and then for the operation to be closed.

It’s all positive from Spain either way, with both newspapers believing that Everton are close to getting their second signing of the summer transfer window over the line.

Everton transfer news as £34.6m demand made for Boulaye Dia move

Serie A side Salernitana have demanded £34.6million for striker Boulaye Dia, with Everton remaining the most interested club, according to Corriere dello Sport.

The newspaper has reported (21 July, pg 14) that Salernitana’s billionaire owner Danilo Iervolino [Forbes] set the eight-figure fee after the 26-year-old’s £19.9million release clause expired at midnight on Friday (21 July) [Football Italia].

Now, the Toffees would have to pay Iervolino’s asking price if they want to get the deal done for the 16-goal season striker.

The initial near £20million release clause fee for Dia may have been a bit steep for Everton, especially considering their current financial issues.

But now they look to have missed the boat completely after his release clause expiry and would now have to pay an extra £15million for their man.

Dia had a successful loan spell at the Serie A side before his move was made permanent from Villarreal for £10.3million. He scored 16 goals in 33 appearances and has proven his goal-scoring ability across Europe at Ligue 1 side Reims and with the Yellow Submarine in La Liga.

With three of Europe’s top five leagues ticked off, perhaps Dia is bound for the Premier League with Everton. But the asking price will now most likely be too steep and a poor investment from SeanSalernitana’s side.

The Toffees are nearing a deal for Villarreal forward Arnaut Danjuma on loan [The Guardian]. Having already strengthened this area, perhaps their remaining funds would be better invested in their leaky defence or the stale midfield.

But what could Everton be missing out on, if they pass on Dia? They need a prolific and dependable goalscorer, which Dia has proven himself to be. If he could maintain his 0.54 non-penalty goals per 90 (84th percentile) and his 0.21 assists per 90 (86th percentile) [FBRef] in the Premier League, then Everton would likely not have to worry about slipping into a relegation battle.

However, adapting to the Premier League can be tough, and the Toffees do not have the funds to gamble on Dia this window.

In other Everton news, the club’s move for Manchester United’s 21-year-old winger has reportedly be turned down after direct talks.

Everton: Conor Gallagher is the dream Doucoure heir

The Chelsea midfielder has been a long-standing transfer target for Everton.

Everton are in desperate need of reinforcements in the squad this summer following their troubling Premier League relegation scrap last season, and now a new update has emerged on a long-standing transfer target.

What’s the latest on Everton’s interest in Conor Gallagher?

According to journalist and transfer expert Dean Jones, Everton have tabled an offer for Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher.

Whilst speaking on the Ranks FC Ultras Podcast, Jones revealed:

“Conor Gallagher has been linked to West Ham. He is a name that has been thrown in there, my information on Gallagher is that he doesn’t want to leave Chelsea at all, but if he has to leave, he will consider it.

“Everton and Newcastle both have tabled offers, he is very aware of what he would get if he went to either of those clubs.”

What was Everton’s offer for Conor Gallagher?

It is no secret that the Toffees have been in hot pursuit of the England international for over 18 months, with former Everton and Chelsea boss Frank Lampard a huge admirer of the player during his time at Goodison Park.

Whilst Jones has not revealed the exact financial offer that has been made by the Merseyside club, Fabrizio Romano confirmed in late January that Everton had submitted a submitted a £45m offer for the talented midfielder.

As a result, it is now looking like Sean Dyche is keen to continue the pursuit of Gallagher, and if the former Burnley coach can seal a deal to bring him to Goodison Park this summer, it could provide him with a perfect successor for Abdoulaye Doucoure.

The Everton talisman revived his career on Merseyside upon the arrival of Dyche after being exiled due to a reported incident with Lampard. He ended up being the club’s hero on the final day of the season when he scored the winning goal against Bournemouth to save them from a drop into the Championship.

Doucoure was set to be out of contract this summer, however, the powerbrokers at Goodison were quick to trigger the one-year extension available on the 30-year-old’s deal, so will be seen in the Everton squad for the season ahead.

Now Dyche can get ahead in his plans for the future of the team by securing the signature of Gallagher, who would not only work wonders alongside Doucoure next season but would be the natural replacement when the player’s extension expires next summer.

When comparing Gallagher’s output with the Mali international’s last season, the Chelsea star shares a number of similarities to his positional peer in several key attributes, including pass completion (81.1% v 78.5%), shots on target rate (39.3% v 40%), shot-creating actions per 90 (2.61 v 2.65) and goal-creating actions per 90 (0.17 v 0.18), as per FBref.

Gallagher’s career has gone from strength to strength since his loan move to Crystal Palace back in 2021, and has since become a regular feature at Stamford Bridge and was also selected for the England squad in the 2022 World Cup, with Gareth Southgate a huge admirer of the midfielder, having lavished praise on him in the past:

“He’s not as experienced as some of the others but he has an impact in games and has a goal threat. When you look at midfielders, you often ask, ‘do they stop goals, create goals or score goals?’ He does a lot of all of that.”

With that in mind, there is no doubt that the signing of Gallagher would be a major coup for Everton and would become a valuable asset to Dyche in his pursuit to improve their performances and league standing next season.