Everton appear to have found their feet following a difficult start to the Premier League season, but their lack of a striker hampered them once again.
Despite cutting open Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers on multiple chances, scoring 2.73 and 1.34 predicted goals in those games, respectively, Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s absence proved crucial.
Both times, they would lose 1-0, prompting Sean Dyche to act quickly in the market.
Acquiring Udinese forward Beto for a whopping £30 million has already proven to be a wise purchase, as it not only provides the vital focal point up top, but it has also given the England international enough slack to return from injury better than ever.
Two goals in his last two games emphasise such success, which could now help them towards a campaign hopefully devoid of the relegation stresses of the previous two.
However, if reports are to be accepted, the Toffees may have bought a number nine with superior quality to both their current strike duo and the youth to dominate for the next decade.
After all, there isn’t a team on the planet that wouldn’t leap at the chance to have Erling Haaland on their side these days.
Although Calvert-Lewin has had some impressive goalscoring spells on Merseyside, including 16 league goals under Carlo Ancelotti during the 2020/21 season, it cannot compare to the levels attained by the Norway international since breaking onto the scene in Austria.
Again, while their new Portuguese forward’s ten goals in Serie A last season were commendable, the Manchester City man stands out above all.
So, with reports circulating that he was on his way to Goodison Park, it must be a disappointing report for the various managers who have been stymied since the departure of Romelu Lukaku.
According to the Daily Mail, former Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson recalls a visit to Finch Farm in 2018 during which he was shown a video of an 18-year-old Haaland tearing it up for his local team.
However, then-CEO Robert Elstone dealt a devastating blow by claiming that the £7m demanded would have been too expensive.
To make matters worse, after some bargaining with the Norwegian club Molde, they agreed to sell for a reduced £5 million, which was again rejected as too expensive for a player who would not have had an immediate first-team impact.
Although that line of thought is admirable, it is also worth noting that, at the time of the rumored interest in the 23-year-old, the club was spending with reckless abandon. Throughout the 2017/18 season, Ronald Koeman would sell for a mouth-watering €203.2m (£175.77m), but could not spare a penny to invest in their future.
And what an investment it could have been, considering his success at RB Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund, and now the Citizens.
In Austria, he scored 29 goals and assisted seven more, and when he moved to Germany, he increased these totals even more despite the higher standard. Improving his ingenuity, the massive marksman would add 23 assists to his 86 goals, which were spaced out across an outstanding 89 outings.
He was ready to take his final step to the pinnacle of world football, and the Etihad seemed a perfect fit given their continuous climb alongside him.
However, few could possibly have predicted just how dominant the forward would instantly become, acquired for a supreme bargain reaching just £51m.
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