Despite the promise of Carlo Ancelotti, Everton are still lacking in their attacking ranks and this has been an ongoing issue since 2017.
Ronald Koeman cashed in on the sale of Romelu Lukaku back in 2017 for a fee of £75million after a blistering final season at Goodison Park. Manchester United made the swoop for the Belgian who amassed 42 goals and 13 assists during his spell in red.
Despite lining their pockets with the £47m profit they’d made off Lukaku, it seemed Everton weren’t prepared for the impact of his departure. In his 166 appearances for the Toffees, the 26-year-old tallied an impressive 87 goals and 29 assists, with his strongest Premier League season being the year he just missed out on the Golden Boot to Harry Kane after scoring 25 goals, with Tottenham’s star bagging 29.
Under the reign of Ancelotti, youngster Dominic Calvert-Lewin is flourishing with his 13 league goals so far this season, alongside teammate Richarlison with 10 goals. But it’s been a while since Everton saw the kind of clinical nature Lukaku brought to their attack.
In his final season in blue, the Toffees finished seventh in the league, just eight points away from securing European football. Everton haven’t finished above the 61 points accumulated in the summer of 2017 since.
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Lukaku’s absence immediately showed the following campaign after the Toffees finished on just 49 points. They followed it up by ending 2018/19 with 54 points and this term has been their worst yet. Everton found themselves sucked into the deadly pull of the relegation zone earlier this season, something which could have been avoided sooner with more composure in front of goal.
It looks as though Ancelotti is already working on who to add to the ranks this summer, after recent links with the likes of Andrea Belotti and Ciro Immobile have been circulating. But the Blues will struggle to bring in a player as influential as Lukaku was.