Everton: Bid made for El Bilal Toure

The Almeria striker could improve the attacking threat at Goodison Park next season

Everton must find ways to improve their squad this summer after a very tight relegation battle in the Premier League last season and now a new update has emerged on a move for a transfer target.

What’s the latest on Everton’s interest in El Bilal Toure?

According to journalist Sacha Tavolieri, Everton have now tabled a bid to sign Almeria forward El Bilal Toure this summer.

Tavolieri took to Twitter to reveal: “Everton put €40m (£34m) on the table for El Bilal Touré! The Toffees offered a 5-years deal for €4.3m gross amount per year.

“Wolverhampton, Nottingham Forest & Fulham keen to join the fight. Serie A clubs interest exists but no offer has been done yet.”

Who would El Bilal Toure replace in the Everton team?

There is no doubt that Sean Dyche needs attacking reinforcements in his squad this summer and the signing of goal-scoring forwards should be the top priority to improve Everton’s performances and help them compete comfortably next season.

The Toffees were the second-lowest scoring team (34) in the entire Premier League last season which heavily contributed to their plight at the bottom of the table and left them on the verge of being relegated right up until the final minutes of the 38-game campaign.

As a result, the signing of Toure would be a great opportunity for the Everton boss to bring in a young player who can add a fresh perspective to the goal threat at Goodison Park next season and if successful, would comfortably replace Neal Maupay in the centre-forward role. The Frenchman has already been linked with the exit door but such a signing would surely only hurry up that departure.

Over 25 appearances last season, the 21-year-old – hailed a “major talent” by journalist Graeme Bailey – scored seven goals and registered two assists with a goal contribution every 154 minutes which is a rate that would significantly improve upon the current options available to the former Burnley boss.

In comparison, Maupay offered a goal contribution every 631 minutes, Dominic Calvert-Lewin contributed every 398 minutes, whilst Demarai Gray offered six goals and one assist, with a contribution every 387 minutes, further demonstrating the lack of consistency in front of goal in the Everton team last season.

When comparing the overall output of the Mali international to Maupay, Toure outperformed the Frenchman in a number of key attributes including shots on target rate (50% v 40.6%), shot-creating actions per 90 (2.52 v 1.45), goal-creating actions per 90 (0.27 v 0.08) and goals per shots on target (0.47 v 0.08%), as per FBref.

According to WhoScored, Toure boasts strengths in both aerial duels and finishing, as well as being considered a direct goal threat from set pieces, all of which would be extremely valuable assets in the Everton forward line if he can continue to develop and polish his skill set on Merseyside.

With that being said, it remains to be seen whether Almeria will accept Everton’s advances for their young talent, but there is clearly huge potential for him to be an exciting prospect in the squad and a long-term solution to one of Dyche’s biggest problems.