Everton Inch Ahead in Three-Horse Race to Sign Coveted Porto Striker

Everton are winning the race to secure a deal for Porto striker Moussa Marega but will have to hold off competition from West Ham and Swansea for the Mali international.

At the age of 26, Marega is having by far the best season of his career to date, scoring twenty goals so far for the Portuguese Primeira Liga leaders. This form has attracted interest from a number of English teams.

According to football.london, Portuguese news source A Bola reports that Sam Allardyce's Toffees are favourites to sign Marega, with owner Farhad Moshiri possessing greater financial clout than the other two clubs can offer.

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Marega has a release clause of £35m but Everton are hopeful that a transfer can be completed for less. The Toffees are in need of a striker, with Wayne Rooney the only player on their books to break into double figures so far this season.

Everton also have the head start on their rivals due to having effectively secured their Premier League status for next season already.

They reached the magical 40-point mark last weekend and can now start preparing for 2018, while West Ham and Swansea are still in danger.

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Marega moved to Portugal when he joined Maritimo in 2015. His performances for the Madeira-based club earned him a move to Porto but he was loaned out to Vitoria Guimaraes after failing to impress in his first season at the Estadio do Dragao.

He scored 14 goals for Vitoria and has continued that positive form into this season. He is Porto's top scorer and the third-highest scorer in the Primeira Liga.