da leao： Everton’s summer hasn’t looked too bad so far. The superb appointment of Ronald Koeman, talk of big investment and noises about signings has seen a surprising upturn in mood around Goodison Park.
da bet vitoria： There’s plenty of reasons to be optimistic in the blue half of Merseyside, despite the media’s penchant for transfer rumours surrounding their star players. John Stones, Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku are consistently rumoured to be on their way out of the club, as the biggest names in European football continue to peek through the door.
Koeman may now face a battle to keep the chat-happy Belgian striker, however. Lukaku, despite being largely disappointing, spent much of the European Championships in France flirting with the idea of a move away from Goodison and other teams are beginning to lurk.
Fortunately, Everton have a shrewd boss at the helm this time around. Koeman is the man who could lead the club to to competing in the top eight again.
Who can he replace big Rom with? Well, one of these FIVE might be a start…
Wilfried Bony
Do not be fooled by Bony’s Manchester City stint, the ex-Swansea Ivorian is still a top quality centre-forward who can perform in the Premier League.
His tree trunk thighs and intelligent movement as he drops off into the number ten space, Bony is a striker who can play the complete striker role.
His back to goal play is even far superior to Romelu Lukaku and would be the perfect Koeman striker.
Christian Benteke
Splashing a lot of cash on a supposed Liverpool flop? Probably not a popular move.
However, Benteke’s performances at Liverpool have not been half as bad as many have opted to make out. His quality, although inconsistent, is there for all to see and his goals to game ratio was still just as impressive.
In Jurgen Klopp’s style of play, Benteke makes little sense as a player. In Ronald Koeman’s set up, it could work just perfectly.
Javier Hernandez
Netting 17 goals in 25 Bundesliga starts just goes to show how natural a goal scorer Javier Hernandez is.
Chicarito was unfortunate to lose his place in the Manchester United squad and his demands to start could well be met with a move to Everton.
With the current wealth in the Premier League, there is no reason Everton couldn’t attract a player of Hernandez’s calibre. Could Koeman use the 3-5-2 once again with Hernandez partnering Benteke?
Simone Zaza
Forget his hilariously calamitous penalty at the Euros, Simone Zaza is a gifted, hard-working forward who is up for grabs this summer.
Having only started five Serie A games for Juventus last season, a move is surely in the offing and could be a great signing for many Premier League clubs.
A versatile forward with an almighty leap, Zaza would be quite a change from the battering ram of Romelu Lukaku.
Paco Alcacer
Valencia’s Paco Alcacer is, again, a wildly different striker to Romelu Lukaku.
The Spaniard scored 13 La Liga goals last season and would treat the Everton fans to some smart forward play, tidy finishing and subtle passing around the penalty area.
Alcacer would not come cheaply, but would be a sign of real intent in the transfer market for Everton.