Toffees Boss Sam Allardyce Admits Everton Must Prioritise Striker Signing in January
Everton's new manager Sam Allardyce enjoyed his first game at the helm of the club this weekend, the Toffees picking up a 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town. However, Allardyce was rather candid in his assessment about his newly-acquired squad, admitting that the club need to look at attacking reinforcements in January.
Speaking after the match, he said: "I have to say it is a priority. If we achieve anything going forward to get into the top half, we need at least two players to score 10 goals or more."
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Since Romelu Lukaku left for Manchester United in the summer, Everton have failed to fill the void left by his departure, instead using the £75m fee to strengthen other areas. However, Allardyce is on the lookout for a striker, despite watching Wayne Rooney score a hat-trick mid-week against West Ham.
After Rooney's performance Allardyce admitted that he would still consider benching the former England captain, who returned to Everton in the summer, saying: "He probably won't accept it like the rest but it's my job to be good enough as a manager to try and get the best out of him. It might be that he can handle it. I don't know yet. I've only been here for two minutes."
With the January transfer window just a month away, Allardyce is planning to secure a 20-goal striker to bolster his frontline. Thus far, the young forward Dominc Calvert-Lewin has held down the fort, as summer signing Sandro has continually struggled to impress.
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Allardyce has created an expectation for his side to not just escape the the clutches of the relegation zone, but to soar back towards the top half of the table. He added: "There is a certain amount of goals you need to finish 10, around the 50-goal mark. So how do we get those?"
Reports emanating from the Daily Mail have speculated that Allardyce could be reunited with one of his former strikers. Jermain Defoe, Andy Carroll, or Christian Bentenke are strikers that could potentially make the switch to Goodison Park.
