OPINION
With West Ham United reportedly holding talks to sign Moussa Marega, Everton need to hijack the move while they still can.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Marega has been the subject of talks between the Hammers and Porto, with the Portuguese club also interested in Chekyou Kouyate, which gives Manuel Pellegrini’s side a chance of lowering the reported £22million fee.
However, as reported by trusted Twitter source ExWHUemployee, the London club are struggling to meet the Primeira Division sides asking price as he’s too expensive for them.
Too expensive at the moment https://t.co/HILqe8GfMe
— ExWHUEmployee (@ExWHUEmployee) July 27, 2018
This gives the Toffees the chance they need to swoop in and snatch the powerful Malian striker from under the nose of their Premier League rivals.
The 27-year-old is a proven goalscorer and has scored goals with all of his previous clubs. His record at Porto stands at 24 goals in 53 games. He got 15 goals in 34 appearances at CS Marítimo, and also 14 goals in 31 appearances at Vitória Guimarães SC. That is a pretty strong record.
New boss at Goodison Park, Marco Silva, has so far only signed Richarlison from Watford, albeit for a reported £40million transfer fee.
The Brazilian will add a lot of skill, pace, delivery and is a dangerous threat from wide areas, but they need to sort out their striking department next. Cenk Tosun showed glimpses of his quality last season, but beyond that, they lack real strength in depth.
If the Turkish striker was to get injured for any period of time, Silva would have to rely on the likes of Oumar Niasse, Sandro Ramirez and Dominic Calvert-Lewin to score their goals, that won’t fill Toffees fans with confidence.
The Merseyside club need another goalscoring striker if they are to make their upcoming season a success, they’ve got a decent enough team but adding Marega would really help their cause next season, especially if they beat West Ham to his signing.