Ex-Everton target who was 'in talks' to sign is now Europe's top scorer - ahead of Haaland and Kane

While Everton may be about to move away from the Farhad Moshiri era, one player who they failed to sign is now leading Europe’s scoring charts.

Moshiri’s era in charge of the club will always be looked back on with regret. Given that over £500m was spent on transfers, the club moved backwards instead of forwards as they swapped European football for relegation dogfights. The first of which came in the 2021/22 season as Rafael Benitez’s short tenure saw Everton fall to the bottom end of the Premier League table.

Then, after his dismissal, Frank Lampard managed an unlikely escape in the final few games as they dodged the ultimate bullet. In that summer, Lampard identified players that could improve the squad. One of those was Coventry City’s Viktor Gyokeres who had produced an 18-goal campaign (17 in the Championship) and was being eyed for a move. Looking back at old reports, according to Swedish Championship podcast “Football’s Coming Home”, Gyokeres was negotiating with Everton regarding a move.

Football Insider also reported six months later that a £20m move was being eyed. That summer was their best chance of signing the forward as he then went onto net 22 times and provide 12 assists in 50 games which caught the eye of Sporting Lisbon, who signed him for €20 million (plus €4 million in bonuses).

Since then, he’s been a revelation. He got 43 goals and 15 assists for Sporting last season to place him among the highest scorers in Europe and he has begun this season in similar form. As it stands (September 24) he is the highest scorer in Europe’s top five leagues in all competitions with 11 goals and three assists in just eight games. He also managed two goals and three assists in Sweden’s two UEFA Nations League games during the last international break.

Now linked with Chelsea, Arsenal and other elite clubs, the price tag is set around £85m, as per his release clause and the 26-year-old is hot property. Yet, he was there for the taking during that 2022 summer window and Everton went onto sign Neal Maupay fo £15m, when Coventry only wanted £20m - talk about a missed opportunity.