Everton are looking like real contenders for the European spots this season, especially after winning four of their last five games.
David Moyes is desperate to qualify for Europe, but he reckons they might not quite be ready to achieve a top-seven finish.
“I’m too old now to say we just want to avoid relegation, but I’m not daft enough to say Europe is possible. I don’t think we are quite ready, but we will keep knocking at the door,” Moyes said after Everton beat Nottingham Forest.
The fast-approaching January transfer window gives Everton the chance to add more quality and close the gap on their rivals.
With that said, Sam Allardyce has now picked the signing Moyes needs to make to qualify for Europe.
Sam Allardyce.
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Sam Allardyce says Everton need to sign a striker this January
Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football YouTube channel, former Everton manager Sam Allardyce was asked if Everton can get into Europe this season.
Allardyce said it would all depend on whether they signed a striker in January, as he isn’t convinced by Thierno Barry.
“Got to find a striker that scores,” the 71-year-old explained.
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“The young lad (Barry) might eventually make it. It’s a bit like when I was there, Calvert-Lewin was your youngster and that was it.
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“Wayne was there, but Wayne had dropped in the hole by then because he’s well in his 30s, you know what I mean?
“Calvert-Lewin was I think 19, he could hold it up, he got chances, but he missed him, you know what I mean? So it was, I think we had Wayne leading goal scorer with 11. Few of them were penalties.
“Yeah. So it was always it was always a problem then for me you got you got slaughtered on the back that you don’t score enough goals. Well we couldn’t score enough goals but we still finished eighth.”
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Everton have been scouting Troy Parrott in recent months, and they watched him score twice against Portugal during the international break.
The Toffees have been informed it’d take £31m to sign Parrott, so it would require a big financial commitment.
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“We might be looking at the loan market again and seeing what we need.
“Certainly, the people who do the job are working behind the scenes to see what might be possible.”
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Former striker Richarlison has also been linked with a return to Merseyside, and it’s understood the Brazilian is open to re-signing for Everton.
Manchester United frontman Joshua Zirkzee is also on Moyes’ radar, although he’s been getting a lot more game time recently in the absence of Benjamin Sesko, who’s out with a knee injury.
There is also some debate around whether signing another striker would ruin Barry’s development, so that’s something Moyes will be considering, too.
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