Frank Lampard has made it clear to the Everton hierarchy he needs a striker before the end of the transfer window.
Speaking after the game against Nottingham Forest, in which the Blues snatched a late point through Demarai Gray, the manager said he had expressed his desire to strengthen his forward line-up by the end of the transfer window on September 1.
His comments followed a match in which Everton had 19 shots but needed Gray's 89th minute goal to rescue the club's first point of the season. When asked about the finishing of Anthony Gordon, who had several efforts on target but was unable to find a way past Forest keeper Dean Henderson, Lampard said he was confident the 21-year-old would soon add goals to his game.
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Lampard has been vocal about the need to strengthen his forward options since the sale of Richarlison in June. Speaking after the friendly defeat to Minnesota United in July, the Blues boss highlighted his squad had a "void" in attacking options. In the month that has followed, four new signings have arrived at Goodison Park, including Dwight McNeil from Burnley. But a striker has not been acquired and Lampard has been further hindered by what he described as a "freak" knee injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin just days before the start of the new Premier League campaign.
After 270 minutes of football Everton have scored twice, once through a Lucas Digne own goal and then through Gray on Saturday. Chances have been created, but the side has lacked a clinical edge, leading to increasing calls from supporters for re-enforcements up top.
Discussing the transfer window so far before the Forest game, Lampard said he was still hoping for more business to be done but expressed frustration at the extent to which the transfer window runs into the new season, which he believes has delayed some business.
He said: "We were were we where last season for a reason, I realise there is a lot of work to be done. Some of that starts with personnel. I’m happy with what we’ve done so far in the window for sure, in terms of some of the personnel, characters and quality that we brought in. We want to do some more. I don’t think we were going to take us from where we were last season to where we ultimately want to be in one window. If you try to attack it one window, maybe Forest are, it is not always that easy. We are trying to do it in a considered way. We have two more weeks to go. The most frustrating part for me is that it has run so long into the season, when you’re trying to prepare for games and there is all talk all the time about ins and outs and players, it can have an affect. That’s not just us, that’s everybody."
Lampard has both stressed that several areas of Everton's squad needed strengthening, hence the work on other areas including the introduction of three defenders, and that his side will receive some relief in the coming weeks when Calvert-Lewin returns to action. As Everton struggled to break through Forest on Saturday, Gordon fought hard to be the difference between the two sides but was repeatedly denied by Henderson.
Asked about Gordon's finishing, and how often the 21-year-old works on improving that area of his game, Lampard said: "Most days, because Anthony is a great professional. He has a great hunger as a young lad. He wants to work on his finishing. Some of it is just pure development, as a young player who gave us so much last year in his output in a general sense and the goals will just come but it takes a bit of time sometimes to get that in your game. For some of the greatest players to expect them to be plundering goals at 21-22 is not always the norm. There is the occasional exception, No 9s, [Erling] Haaland etc, it is their thing. Anthony has a lot of strings to his bow and the goalscoring one will come."
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