Everton have yet again found themselves falling into trouble in the Premier League after a disappointing run of poor performances, and Frank Lampard will be searching for solutions to improve the situation at Goodison Park during the World Cup break.
The Toffees are currently teetering on the edge of the relegation zone in 17th – just one point clear of the bottom three – after failing to pick up points in five of their last seven league games.
Despite signing eight new players in the summer and a flourishing centre-back partnership developing between James Tarkowski and Conor Coady, Everton are struggling at the other end of the pitch.
Only Wolverhampton Wanderers have scored fewer goals than the Merseysiders in the top flight, so it will be an issue that Lampard is surely keen to address when he gets the golden opportunity to strengthen the forward line in the January transfer window next month.
One player who has been linked with a move to Goodison Park is Netherlands and PSV Eindhoven star Cody Gakpo, and he would surely boost the goal contributions in the team if Everton can secure his signature in the New Year.
The Dutchman is level with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland for the most club goal contributions in Europe’s major leagues (21) so far this season, with nine goals and 12 assists, but it’s not just that trait which make him a potentially valuable asset to Lampard.
The 23-year-old forward ranks in the top 5% of his positional peers across the top five European leagues for shot-creating actions, dribbles completed, touches and progressive passes received, also ranking in the top 20% for interceptions and aerial duels won.
Gakpo has also been a standout performer for the Netherlands at the World Cup in Qatar and has had a fantastic tournament despite being knocked out by Argentina in a nail-biting clash which was settled by penalties on Friday night.
Across five appearances at the finals, the £43m-valued ace scored three goals and successfully completed 50% of his dribbles, along with averaging two key passes, 1.6 tackles, 1.2 clearances and 4.6 duels won per game, proving that he has a huge attacking presence on the pitch.
With that in mind, the prospective signing of Gakpo would be a major coup for Everton, and he could be the dream Richarlison heir that the powers at Goodison Park have been desperately seeking since his £60m move to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer.
Everton need someone to replace the Brazilian’s goal output of recent years (30 in his last three top-flight campaigns for the club), and there are few better candidates than Gakpo in that regard.
from FootballFanCast.com https://ift.tt/z1FhljY
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