The September international break has arrived at the perfect time for Everton, who have lost each of their opening three fixtures of the Premier League campaign.
Let’s bypass the recap. The Toffees can take solace in the fact that Dominic Calvert-Lewin is thus far fit and firing and that Armando Broja has been signed as competition.
Sean Dyche’s side have it all to prove, and finding a high-class and reliable (on the fitness front) goalscorer has been one of the cruxes of recent misfortunes.
Why Everton signed Armando Broja
Calvert-Lewin enjoyed a much-improved finish to the 2023/24 campaign, scoring four goals throughout April and May, and started 26 matches in the Premier League – which was the injury-hit forward’s best run since the 2019/20 campaign, when he started 30 top-flight games.
The 27-year-old has enjoyed a strong start to the season, insofar as any Everton player could after a wretched collective start, but it would have been foolish not to have signed some impactful back-up, and Broja certainly fits that mould.
A regular for Albania, Broja is one of the most technically proficient and athletic young forwards in the business, ranking among the top 1% (across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year) for pass completion and the top 2% for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref.
However, last season he scored only two goals for Chelsea before moving to Fulham on loan for the second half of the season, where he failed to score or start in the Premier League.
Landing him on loan, with the option to purchase for £30m, is still a pretty good deal, though it does let us cast our mind back to Everton’s failure to sign one Erling Haaland way back when – and for a small fee too.
How Everton once missed out on Erling Haaland
Haaland’s quite the goalscorer. Against Everton alone, the Norwegian phenomenon has four goals despite only playing the Goodison Park side three times.
But expand that scope, and his brilliance is illuminated. Since signing for Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund in a base £51m deal back in 2022, the 24-year-old has plundered 97 goals and 14 assists across 102 appearances. In the Premier League? Just the 70-strike return from a grand total of 69 displays. Ludicrous.
Hailed as “world-class” by pundit Peter Crouch, he’s one of the standout stars of his generation – and you definitely wouldn’t count him out of claiming a Ballon d’Or title or two before he hangs up the boots.
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Erling Haaland: Senior Stats by Club |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Club |
Apps |
Goals |
Assists |
|
Manchester City |
102 |
97 |
14 |
|
Borussia Dortmund |
89 |
86 |
23 |
|
RB Salzburg |
27 |
29 |
7 |
|
Molde |
50 |
20 |
6 |
|
Bryne FK |
16 |
0 |
0 |
|
Stats via Transfermarkt |
|||
Everton must rue the day they missed out on claiming his signature. Football is littered with stories of world-class stars nearly signing for rogue outfits way back when, and Everton are no different, with The Daily Mail reporting that the club turned down the then-Molde prospect despite him showing the innate signs of a high-level goalscorer, for the £5m fee was deemed too high.
The riches that could have been reaped. According to CIES Football Observatory, the global sensation is now valued at a staggering £215m, suggesting that the dominant Premier League champions could collect a world-record fee surpassing the £200m transfer of Neymar Jr. from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.
Everton have a strikeforce that is capable of firing enough goals in this year, but just imagine what could have been…
