Everton boss David Moyes will have been kicking himself after a huge incident at the Hill Dickinson Stadium at the weekend.
Everton fell 4-1 to Newcastle United in a dismal showing, consigning them to 14th in the Premier League table after having the chance to go into the top half.
Some poor goalkeeping from Jordan Pickford gifted Newcastle two goals, midfielder Tim Iroegbunam was hooked at half time after some poor tackling, and that saw a crumbling loss.
But one star who ran amok at the Hill Dickinson Stadium will have been rued by David Moyes, after failing to sign Nick Woltemade in the summer before he scored on Merseyside.
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Everton hoped to sign Newcastle star Nick Woltemade in the summer but couldn’t get a deal over the line
Nick Woltemade’s deft lob against Everton on Saturday evening showed David Moyes exactly what he’s missing out on in the current campaign, as he put Newcastle 3-0 to the good just before half-time.
The Athletic journalist Patrick Boyland claimed that Woltemade was the best striker seen this season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium – and that he was watched by Everton scouts and members of Moyes’ coaching staff, though they decided to go in a different direction.
STAT: Thierno Barry had the lowest amount of touches (26) of any player who started in Everton’s 4-1 loss to Newcastle. Even Jordan Pickford (36) and Aaron Ramsdale (37) had more.
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Everton will now be ruing that decision. Woltemade has seven goals in 17 games for the Magpies, including five in the Premier League, almost half of the Toffees’ entire tally for the campaign.
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It’s not the first time Everton have seemingly been close to a striker who has hit the ground running in the top-flight; Erling Haaland was once linked with a move to Goodison Park, and Viktor Gyokeres was a target whilst at Sporting.
But the Woltemade signing will hurt given just how poor Everton have been going forwards this season.
Everton haven’t had much joy with their alternative striker signing
Instead of signing Nick Woltemade, the Toffees instead opted for Villarreal star Thierno Barry.
And so far, it’s turned out to be a poor signing, even though there is potential for the Frenchman to blossom later down the line.
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Thierno Barry is the Premier League player who has had the most shots without registering a single one on target this season, managing 11 without troubling a goalkeeper – made even worse by the fact he’s been expected to notch 1.6 goals.
Woltemade has hit the ground running for both Newcastle and Germany, and if Everton had been able to cough up the money for his services, they could have been pushing for Europe as it stands.
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