Everton have earned themselves a reputation for transfer disasters since Farhad Moshiri became the majority stakeholder at the club over six years ago and the poor choices in the market have reflected into the performances on the pitch leading to relegation battles and financial concerns at Goodison Park.
The Toffees are currently 19th in the Premier League matching their relegation rivals in the bottom three for 15 points after 19 outings and have the joint-second worst goal tally in the top flight with just 15 goals scored so far.
As a result, the January transfer window presents a golden opportunity for Everton to strengthen their attacking threat this month but there will be no room for error or repeated mistakes of the past as a new addition would need to make an instant impact on the team to ensure the club retains their top flight status at the end of the season.
One player who has been linked with a move to the blue side of Merseyside this week is West Ham United striker Michail Antonio, however, when considering the player’s form it could be another atrocious acquisition for Everton.
Over 18 league appearances, the £85k-per-week forward – who was hailed “shocking” by Dan Lawless – has scored two goals and registered one assist, as well as averaging 0.4 shots on target, 0.5 successful dribbles and only 4.3 accurate passes completed per game, whilst also being 10th lowest rated player in the entire West Ham squad this season so far.
The 32-year-old’s poor form in front of goal has contributed to the Hammers’ similar struggle over the campaign so far with the London club also in the relegation zone and matching Everton for points, so with that considered it makes absolutely no sense for manager Frank Lampard to sign the striker.
In fact, the signing of Antonio would likely be a repeat of Rafa Benitez’s disastrous signing of Salomon Rondon in the summer of 2021 with the former Toffees striker scoring just three goals over 31 appearances before being released by Everton just last month.
Both strikers are in the latter stages of their respective careers and despite tallying up a lot of Premier League experience are not prolific and consistent in front of goal when needed the most.
With that being said, Moshiri must avoid the signing of Antonio this month to avoid making the same mistakes of the past and instead focus on identifying a youthful prospect who offers more goal contributions and more potential for Everton’s future beyond this season.
from FootballFanCast.com https://ift.tt/2doZypm
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