Everton are gearing up for a summer of bustling activity.
Not only are the Toffees set to leave their hallowed Goodison Park and move to Bramley Moore, but with new owners, The Friedkin Group, looking to bring the club back to prominence, back to the top half of the Premier League, exciting investment is anticipated.
David Moyes has reportedly been handed greater transfer powers than his predecessors and will look to bring a range of signings in to strengthen the various parts of the Everton engine.
Of course, some exits will need to be enforced too, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin perhaps the biggest name expected to depart this summer.
Why Everton need to part with Calvert-Lewin
Everton are approaching a new era, and while Moyes’ arrival felt like a reprieve for Calvert-Lewin after his struggles under Sean Dyche this year, a fresh hamstring injury sustained in January against Brighton & Hove Albion has sent him spiralling back into the shadows.
The 27-year-old did score during the thumping win over Tottenham Hotspur one game before, but this snapped a 16-match goalless run in the Premier League.
Taking the variables into consideration, there’s a sense it would be rather imprudent to tie the injury-prone, goal-averse striker to a new deal as he enters the final few months of his current contract.
Earning £100k per week, the England international has been a Toffee for a long time, enjoyed highs and lows, but it’s the right time for him to move on, especially with Beto going from strength to strength since Moyes arrived.
2024/25
22 (19)
3
1
2023/24
32 (26)
7
2
2022/23
17 (15)
2
1
2021/22
17 (15)
5
2
2020/21
33 (32)
16
1
2019/20
36 (30)
13
1
2018/19
35 (19)
6
2
2017/18
32 (18)
4
5
2016/17
11 (5)
1
0
Beto can’t do it all alone though, as recent fixtures have demonstrated for the Bissau-Guinean. Everton need a new striker, and the perfect up-and-comer may well have been lined up.
Everton lining up DCL upgrade
According to transfer insider Graeme Bailey, Everton are preparing a bid for Strasbourg striker Emanuel Emegha, who has enjoyed prolific success in Ligue 1 this season.
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The report states Emegha, 22, wants to move to the Premier League. Incoming Toffees Director of Football, Angus Kinnear, will have his work cut out, for Newcastle United and West Ham United have also been named as suitors.
It’s uncertain what Strasbourg are looking to bank through the sale of their star striker, but it is suggested they are willing to do business, cashing in while his stock is high.
What Emanuel Emegha would bring to Everton
Moyes has already showcased his tactical prowess through rejuvenating Beto, and with the power to pick a new forward who he chooses (within reason, of course) Emegha might just be the perfect long-term option for the number nine spot at Bramley Moore.
Strasbourg signed Emegha from Austrian club Sturm Graz in July 2023, actually beating Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan to his signature for a reported €13m (roughly £11m) fee.
He gave a good account of himself last year, notching eight goals in the French top flight across just 23 starting appearances.
This year, it seems the Dutch-born striker has taken the next step in his development, refining his shooting to chalk up 11 goals from 21 matches, also creating four big chances for his teammates.
Standing at a towering 6 foot 5, there’s also the matter of Emegha boasting the aerial prowess to take Calvert-Lewin’s – one of the best headers of the ball – mantle.
Hailed for his “simply phenomenal” season by talent scout Jacek Kulig, Emegha is endowed with all the properties of a high-level centre-forward, also boasting a profile that Everton have been known to desire in the past.
Let’s explain. As per FBref, Emegha ranks among the top 9% of central strikers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for pass completion and the top 20% for clearances made per 90, illustrating his technical skill and willingness to get back and scoop away danger when under the kosh.
It’s such a varied style of play that Moise Kean – now of Fiorentina and a player Evertonians know well – is listed as Emegha’s most similar player in Europe’s top five leagues via the same stats-led source.
Everton welcomed Kean to Goodison Park from Juventus when he was just a teenager, for a hefty £25m fee. He was sold for a similar £25m figure in 2023, mitigating the frustration that it didn’t work out, but after just two goals from 32 matches in the Premier League and a series of loan spells, it’s one to cast a rueful eye back on all the same.
But his exploits since have proved his worth, proved Everton’s reasoning behind breaking the bank to bring him in before he had fully hit his stride.
Indeed, having now left Juventus for Fiorentina, the Italy international, now 24 years old, has scored 20 goals across 34 appearances this season, with La Viola idol Luca Toni claiming the club are “doing something extraordinary” in unlocking Kean and turning him into an elite-class striker.
Now, Everton are moving to sign the newer version in Emegha, a player whose profile has already been scouted and pursued by the likes of Tottenham and might just prove to hand Moyes a new striker, his own Kean, to propel Bramley Moore into some lofty conversations, challenging at the top end of the table for a place in European competition.
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