Everton 'crying out for natural goal-scorer' like 70-goal star at Goodison Park | OneFootball

Everton would be 'a hard sell' for free agent Moussa Dembele but would solve the club's problem in terms of being a natural goalscorer, journalist Dean Jones has told GIVEMESPORT.

Dembele is a free agent this summer after leaving Lyon, where he scored 70 goals in 172 appearances in all competitions and 56 in 129 Ligue 1 games.

GiveMeSport VIDEO OF THE DAY

Pause

Unmute

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration 8:10

Loaded: 3.28%

Everton transfer news - Moussa Dembele

Dembele is a player of interest to Everton, according to iNews. The Liverpool Echo are reporting the same, with the Toffees believed to be in the market for two strikers this summer.

A two-time treble-winner with Celtic, Dembele will have interest in his services from across Europe.

His best season for Lyon came only a year ago, in 2021/22, when the forward scored 21 goals in only 30 Ligue 1 appearances. Despite his prolific goalscoring form he only finished as the joint-third highest scorer in the division, with PSG's Kylian Mbappe (28 goals) and Monaco's Wissam Ben Yedder (25 goals) pipping him in the charts.

This season, however, Dembele has struggled for game time under Lyon boss Laurent Blanc. He has started just eight games in Ligue 1, came on as a substitute 15 times and has found the back of the net on only three occasions.

What has Jones said about Everton and Dembele?

Jones told GIVEMESPORT: "Everton, after back-to-back relegation battles, is a bit of a hard sell. But I can completely understand why they would try and get into that conversation because that is a team that's crying out for a natural goalscorer."

Would Dembele work for Everton?

He'll score goals, that's for certain, and could work well when paired with a more selfless forward such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The idea of Dembele getting on the end of Calvert-Lewin's knockdowns is indeed a mouth-watering prospect, but whether the Frenchman will be tempted to join the club remains another matter.

Dembele will likely have sizeable wage demands and might not have the requisite work rate and desire to get back and help his team defensively to play under Sean Dyche. That being said, as a pure finisher, Everton would struggle to find a better value-for-money player given that he would cost no transfer fee. Especially in terms of replacing Neal Maupay, Dembele would be a massive upgrade for Everton and a smart transfer - if they can convince the player and get it over the line.