Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
It is fair to say that Everton have been transformed under the stewardship of Sam Allardyce, with the former one time England manager leading his new Meryseside charges up to the heady heights of ninth in the Premier League table. A large part of that transformation is undoubtedly down to the fact that the Toffees are unbeaten since ‘Big Sam’ took charge.
Like any team that has Allardyce at the top of the managerial hierarchy it will be built on a solid defensive platform, this has been no less apparent then the fact that Everton’s last two games have ended in goalless draws and although if you don’t concede you cannot lose a game those two results have prompted the club into the transfer market for a new forward.
It is well documented that Everton spent the best part of £150m in the Summer but a fair criticism could be that they spent the money in the wrong places, there is no doubting that they are still missing the fact that Romelu Lukaku departed for Old Trafford with the signing of Spanish Under 21 international Sandro Ramirez struggling to fill what are very big shoes.
But now they will look to rectify their attacking issues with the capture of Cenk Tosun from Besiktas with the fee believed to be £25m and the move ready to be completed as early as January 1. Allardyce has been a long time admirer of the Turkish international after first attempting to sign the forward last season while manager of Crystal Palace.
An initial fee of £15m was knocked back by the Turkish giants but it seems as if a deal of £20m up front and £5m in performance related bonuses is enough for Allardyce to finally get his man. It might not be Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang that the club were linked with a few weeks ago but Tosun is still a very competent striker.
At international level he has scored 8 goals from 24 appearances – a goal to games ratio of 1 in 3. While for Besiktas the last season and a half have seen him score 28 goals in 49 Turkish SuperLig matches while the Istanbul based outfit have also progressed to the Champions League Round of 16 with Tosun scoring four group stage goals.
The task for Tosun upon arrival will be to score the goals that will fire Everton further up the table, they currently find themselves ninth and on the basis that seventh is a Europa League paying finish then another tilt at European football next season is by no means out of the question especially if the Turkish international can hit the ground running.
