Matthew Hobbs and Tom McCoy, BBC Sport 26/10/2025 comments  |  Jump to last

After a summer of largely successful recruitment for Everton, a question mark still remains at centre-forward, which has been a problem position since the departure of Romelu Lukaku in 2017.

The Toffees have signed 17 strikers over the past 10 years at a combined cost of almost £160M... with decidedly mixed results.

Since Lukaku's sale in the summer of 2017, the Blues have scored 357 Premier League goals - the fewest of any ever-present club.

Despite having signed 17 strikers in that time, Everton are yet to find a reliable long-term option - and selection problems persist to this day.

So far this season, Everton's two strikers have scored one goal between them in 16 Premier League appearances.

Lukaku joined Everton in 2013, initially on loan from Chelsea, before the move was made permanent for a then club record £28M fee the following summer.

The Belgium international excelled on Merseyside, overtaking Duncan Ferguson as the club's record Premier League scorer with 68 goals in 141 games at an average of one every 175 minutes. Lukaku...