January is always difficult at the best of times, and I think this January is going to be even more difficult because of the World Cup. Prices are always a lot higher in January, and after the World Cup prices will be further inflated.
As a sports agent, I know how difficult it is to recruit. But I’m first and foremost an Everton fan. Get a striker.
Who that striker is, I don't know. It's a gamble, but it's worth taking, because how much could we lose if we go down? We need to gamble on bringing someone in.
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But also, we've got Tom Cannon and he can't do any more for the under-21s. He’s playing, he’s scoring: that's what strikers do. I don't care if he doesn’t touch the ball, he’s putting it in the back of the net. And if he’s doing that for the under-21s, he deserves his opportunity because with what's in front of him right now, I’d be knocking on that door.
But we also definitely need to bring in a striker. It may block Cannon for a while, but you can learn off someone. He can watch a signing in training and see what could be added to his game.
Bringing in new faces refreshed the whole environment. Every player would be looking at them thinking how can they improve in training. Cannon might not want any strikers to come into the club, he might want to become the main guy, so he needs to take an opportunity to show everyone that he’s got what it takes.
If he’s got that now, brilliant, but you’re never going to know unless he gets that opportunity.
Yes, we need a striker, but we also need to rely on Cannon and give him more minutes at the same time. We've got two games coming up, let's see what he can do. It's going to be difficult.
But the board still do need to bring a striker in. Hopefully Frank Lampard and the scouting team have identified someone to bring in because if we don't, it's going to be a very, very long season for the Evertonians to sit there and think ‘where are our goals going to come from?’
Overall, it's a mixture for me. It's a must that we bring in a striker, but who is actually going to want to come to Everton? Who's got the quality to actually come to Everton?
In recruitment, players have to tick a lot of boxes, and Everton have been guilty of bringing players in and hoping they fit the jigsaw. They haven’t.
They’ve got to be careful who they try and bring in, because of financial restraints.
I just hope that the scouting department, who work very very hard and identify a lot of good players. Unfortunately, that gets stopped at the top, either by the club not being the right remit for the player or finances.
Every piece of recruitment is a gamble. You don't know, when a player comes through that door, some will hit the ground running and some will take time to bed in. Unfortunately, Everton haven’t got that time.
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