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Duncan Ferguson admits he wanted to bring £15m Premier League striker to Everton
Former Everton striker Duncan Ferguson.
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Everton are crying out for another striker, and Duncan Ferguson has now revealed one that got away.
Thierno Barry has been carrying the load on his own up top this season, and the Toffees have already been linked with the likes of Kelvin Yeboah and Vitor Roque ahead of January. There’s even talk that Folarin Balogun could now be available for a bargain, after his £45m move collapsed on deadline day.
Big Dunc, now in charge at Glentoran, knows a thing or two about centre-forwards. And speaking on Overlap Daily, the Everton legend admitted there was one striker he tried to bring to the club, only for it not to happen.
Everton are reportedly contemplating going back in for Folarin Balogun in January after details of Monaco’s financial troubles were revealed. Should they go for it or move on to a different target? Balogun turned down a move to the Toffees on deadline day last summer 👀
Why bother? Signing someone for the sake of it would be pointless, particularly after what happened in the summer!
Is that supposed to be a positive outcome? 😂💀
I don’t mind it but think this won’t happen. Will need a big fee. Get a backup loan striker in or something, Friedkin’s aren’t shelling out when they want to sell
Duncan Ferguson wanted to sign Chris Wood for Everton
The striker in question was Chris Wood, back when the New Zealand international was banging in the goals for Leeds United.
“Chris Wood was at Leeds, right? And I wanted to get him to Everton,” Ferguson said. “He scored 25 goals for Leeds in the Championship, and I wanted to get him to Everton, and it didn’t happen. He was a good player, and he went to Burnley and did well.”
Ferguson was actually a little short there. Wood scored 27 league goals for Leeds in 2016/17, finishing as the Championship’s top scorer. Burnley then forked out a reported club-record £15million to take him to Turf Moor that summer.
And in hindsight Ferguson was right about him. Wood may be slowing down now, but went on to become a proper Premier League striker, scoring 20 league goals for Nottingham Forest as recently as the 2024/25 season. Everton could certainly have done with a player like that over the years.
Duncan Ferguson now backing Will Lankshear
In what is admittedly a pretty cold take right now, Ferguson has pointed to Middlesbrough’s Will Lankshear as the next striker to come through from the Championship.
“The boy for Middlesbrough. I’ve not seen a lot of him. What’s his name? Lankshear, right. So, just going to someone there, he’s banging goals in there, so you would want him to move on up… maybe Everton can sign him. So keep an eye on the boy at Middlesbrough… He’s banging a lot of goals in there.”
Lankshear has scored 13 goals in 13 Championship games this season, and he’s already been mentioned as a safer option than some of the ‘bigger’ names linked with Everton. Even with Monaco reportedly needing to sell, Balogun would likely still cost the best part of £40million, with Newcastle and Manchester United also in the mix.
Wood proved there’s value to be found in the Championship, as many others have, and Lankshear could be the next big striker to come from there. Everton would be wise to have a serious look at him.