#striker-recruitment

#striker-recruitment

Everton prepare to face Tottenham at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday undefeated at their new home following three wins and two draws this season. Their home form follows a summer of largely successful recruitment, although a question mark still remains at centre-forward, which has been a problem position since the departure of Romelu Lukaku in 2017. The Toffees have signed 17 strikers over the past 10 years at a combined cost of almost 160m... with decidedly mixed results.

Tottenham are currently in the process of sorting out their targets and, up front, they are having to contemplate the fact they don't have an absolute goalscorer to rely on. Ideally, it would be Solanke but he keeps getting setbacks. So it is one that is on the radar but, because I know they are also very much looking at signing another wide forward, I'm waiting to get an update on just how much they could put into a forward like Samu in January.

The January transfer window will help them in this regard, and plans are being drawn up for signings to be added to Nuno Espirito Santo's squad. One area that could be addressed in attack, with both Niclas Fullkrug and Callum Wilson having struggled in the goalscoring department. Nuno may push to sign another striker when the transfer window re-opens, and if so, there could be one candidate that stands out above the rest: Ivan Toney

On the deadline day, Bayern added one more forward by signing Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea on a loan deal, which could turn into an obligation if certain conditions are met. Bayern have paid a hefty loan fee for Jackson. They can sign him for €65 million next summer if Jackson ends up starting 40 games across the competitions. As things stand, the obligation to buy option will unlikely materialize for Bayern. The decision to sign Jackson will depend on how he performs this season.

"I haven't seen him this week but when I see him we speak as normal, there are no issues there," said Howe. "It's a difficult situation from both sides and it's far from ideal for both parties. "When we bump into each other we speak, but as I say I've not seen him this week as he's training later on and detached from the group. We will catch up at some stage and hopefully speak soon."