Everton failed to trouble Manchester United’s 6th spot till the end of the season, despite having the second highest goalscorer Romelu Lukaku in their squad, along with an inspirational performance in the midfield from Englishman Ross Barkley. Speculations are rife that both the players might leave Goodison Park in the summer in their search for a better club that can offer them Champions League football in the next season.
Though the Toffees are trying their level best to make their talismanic players stay back with them in the next season, Ronald Koeman, the current man in charge at Everton is looking at options already in order to replace his talismanic striker Lukaku this summer. One of the names which has been right on the top of the priority list for him is that of the Algerian striker Yacine Brahimi, who currently plays his football in the Portuguese Primeira Liga with FC Porto.
The 27-year old striker has been in good form of late and has attracted a lot of interest from a number of clubs from all over Europe. He has scored seven goals in 27 matches for his club side this term, however might consider himself unlucky to have ended the season with so few goals to show for his efforts in all competitions.
The Porto marksman is known for his strong passing and dribbling qualities, which are good enough to make the opposition defence go haywire. He also has a very accurate shot from long range and can also finish in style from close range as well. He is also known for his ability to hold onto the ball for quite a significant period of time.
Reportedly, it has not been the intention of the former Portuguese Primeira Liga champions to let go off their prized possession, which they might have to do in order to stay in line with their Financial Fair Play status. They have, as per sources, put a number of clubs on alert including Everton, with the Algerian striker being put on sale with a huge price tag amounting to£ 52.5 million on him. However, considering their current financial situation, Porto might have to let go of Brahimi at the much lesser price than the prescribed one.
Reports suggest that apart from Everton, fellow Premier League club West Ham United are also in the run to land Brahimi to replace their current strikers Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho, whom they are looking to offload in the summer given they receive the right price for the duo.
