Everton must regret selling “scary” £25m striker

Everton completed the signing of Flamengo midfielder Carlos Alcaraz on transfer deadline day, providing David Moyes with his first signing – and the first of The Friedkin Group era.

Should the Argentinian meet an undisclosed number of Premier League starts, a mandatory €15m (£12m) buy option will be activated. It’s a promising signing, but the former Southampton talent isn’t a centre-forward.

It’s the elusive area of priority, the area that many thought would be the first port of call in the market. Alas, Everton must make do with what they’ve got – why didn’t they sign a striker?

Why Everton didn’t sign a striker

Signing Alcaraz was an astute move. With Dwight McNeil out injured, it adds an attacking dimension to the industrious Everton midfield. However, fans will be disappointed that a number nine wasn’t brought in.

It’s a move that will hopefully knit the attacking positions together and aid the existing centre-forwards. Beto looks set to lead the line for the foreseeable with Dominic Calvert-Lewin out injured.

The Guinea-Bissau forward notched two goals as the Toffees thrashed relegation rivals Leicester City last week and has remained at Goodison Park despite speculation concerning a move away.

Moreover, efforts were made to shore up the frontline. A variety of names were considered, most notably of which is Evan Ferguson, with official proposals made for the Brighton striker before he completed a deadline day loan move to West Ham United.

Beto’s inconsistency, Armando Broja’s injury and a bit of both for Calvert-Lewin mean that the Blues faithful will be anxious over the goalscoring calibre.

January is a notoriously difficult time to bring in the right player, but this makes it all the more frustrating that things didn’t work out at Everton for Moise Kean, who is now reaching his potential in Italy.

Everton must rue selling Moise Kean

In 2019, before Everton really fell apart under Farhad Moshiri, Kean was welcomed for £25m. A talented young goalscorer from Juventus, it was a major coup and an exciting acquisition to front an exciting period.

It didn’t work out. The teenager managed only two goals from 32 matches in the Premier League and completed several loan spells, latterly back at Juventus, before re-signing for the Old Lady in a deal worth £25m. The saving grace is that Everton recouped their initial transfer fee.

The disappointment, however, was pervasive, especially now that the powerful frontman is firing them in with Fiorentina in Serie A, scoring 17 goals from 27 matches across all competitions in 2024/25.

Everton are currently rueing the missed chance to sign Ferguson, who is immensely talented at 20 years old but the curator of just one top-flight goal this term. Had Kean’s services been retained, had he been allowed to nurture his qualities at Goodison Park, things might have been so different.

Of course, you could argue that the Italy international’s steep rise over the past few years would never have come about had he remained a rising star in a dysfunctional Everton project. It’s a point that has substance, to be sure.

But it’s still frustrating to think that the Merseysiders had such a player in their grip and failed to provide him with the stability and trust to find his feet and become a major player in the Premier League.

Carlo Ancelotti wanted the talent gone during his loan spell at Paris Saint-Germain, rightly turning his back on a player who had no desire to fight for the badge.

But how different things might have been. Kean made the decision to join the Goodison Park side once upon a time and maybe, had Moyes been re-appointed to the dugout sooner, as had been Farhad Moshiri’s wish, Everton would currently wield a first-class number nine who would stand as their answer to Ferguson, interest in whom may never have come about.

You need only look at his La Viola exploits to determine the bungled opportunity, for Kean has been described as a “scary” physical presence by reporter Carlo Garganese whose “movement and dribbling has come on so much.”

This is perfectly illustrated by his ranking among the top 10% of strikers in the Serie A this season for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref.

A successful take-on is recorded when a player beats their opponent by directly carrying the ball past them while retaining possession.

Fast wheels and a bullish approach to his game speak of a dynamic skill set that would be perfect for Moyes’ system, offering shades of Michail Antonio at West Ham, whose prime aligned with Moyes’ finest Premier League days in east London.

Everton are nine points clear of the drop zone with a game in hand (against Liverpool at Goodison Park). Moyes will be delighted with his team’s reaction to his tactics and demands.

It would have been nice to land a talented centre-forward such as Ferguson, and having retained Kean in hindsight would have been nicer still.

But truth be told, Everton look a different unit under their beloved Scottish gaffer and are gaining confidence that a page might have been turned.