Everton are on the hunt for forwards that can make a huge impact on their uninspiring attacking presence in the Premier League ahead of next season and now a new update has emerged on a potential transfer target.
What's the latest on Everton's interest in Jean-Philippe Mateta?
According to journalist Alan Nixon, Everton could once again rekindle their interest in Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta.
In a claim made on Patreon (via Inside Futbol), the Toffees were named as a potential suitor for the player who has become a bit-part player at the south London club and Palace are now ready to cash in on Mateta to boost funds for investment in other areas of the squad.
Would Mateta be a good fit for Everton?
Whilst the signing of a striker is much-needed at Goodison Park this summer, the club have plenty of time to identify the right striker to improve the goal contributions in the team and should avoid making the same mistakes of the past by recruiting based on poor profiling and desperation.
As a result, with almost three months to recruit for arguably the most important position on the pitch for Everton, Sean Dyche should not be repeating the same transfer disasters that brought Neal Maupay to the club by rejecting the opportunity to sign Mateta this summer.
The Everton striker joined the club last summer under the management of Frank Lampard, and it was hoped that the Frenchman could use his Premier League experience to make up for the loss of Richarlison, with the Brazilian departing the club in the same window.
However, it is safe to say that the £15m signing has not worked out with Maupay only managing to find the back of the net once in all competitions, contributing to a goal drought that has seen Everton struggle to retain their top-flight status once again this season.
The signing of Mateta – who had his decision-making dubbed "woeful" by writer Raj Chohan – could spell further trouble for Dyche if he puts Everton's goal-scoring responsibility into the Palace flop's hands next season as he has shown a lot of inconsistency in his performances and a struggle to compete for a starting position in their attacking threat.
Over 29 Premier League appearances, the 25-year-old – who has a reported price tag of £10m – has scored two goals, missed three big chances and created no chances for his teammates, as well as only averaging 0.2 shots on target, 10.1 touches and 0.1 successful dribbles per game, proving that he tends to go missing when given game time.
With that being said, Dyche should be focusing his attentions elsewhere this summer to prioritise bringing in a proven goalscorer who can consistently bag double digits in the Premier League as anything short of that would likely see Everton continuing to struggle at the bottom of the table again.
