The dream £20m signing who would keep Everton far away from another relegation battle

Everton may have survived last season, by the skin of their teeth, but there’s no doubt that they have a lot of work to do this summer – years of questionable investments in the transfer market and dodgy decisions in the backroom have allowed the Toffees to drift some way from the days when they were regular contenders for a European spot under David Moyes.

If they want to get back to that sort of form under Sean Dyche, they need to do quite a bit of work. The defence has enough talent, especially at centre-half, to develop into a solid unit, and they have some respectable player in the heart of the park, but their attack is a problem, and one that needs some serious attention.

Only Wolves managed fewer than Everton’s 34 league goals last season. With Dominic Calvert-Lewin struggling to rediscover his form after a slew of injuries, Neal Maupay well short of his Brighton best and Ellis Simms still at the beginning of his career, Everton sorely lack a reliable number nine – and Demarai Gray, regularly shoehorned into that role last season, is quite plainly not the answer. Everton need to either be absolutely certain that Calvert-Lewin has been nursed back to health, or they need to buy someone. Common sense dictates the latter.

Quite a few forwards have been linked with Everton, but most of them are not natural or proven goalscorers. The exception is a player who was linked with a move to Goodison Park back in April – Italian international Mateo Retegui.

Retegui, who plays for Club Atlético Tigre on loan from Boca Juniors, is being shopped around by the Argentinian giants following the forward’s surprise call-up for the European Championship Qualifiers against England and Malta. The Argentinian-born striker – who had Italian grandparents – scored on his debut in the 2-1 defeat to Gareth Southgate’s side in Naples, and added a second against Malta a few days later. His stock has risen considerably since.

Retegui scored 19 goals in 27 games during his first season on loan at Tigre and has added 10 in 18 games so far this year despite his side’s struggles – they sit 19^th in the Primera División. He’s quick, strong, fairly tall and decent in the air, and while he isn’t the kind of forward to drop deep and link up play with quick interchanges, he is a powerful presence on the counter-attack. In other words – he’s a direct player who doesn’t play too much fancy football and has a proven track record of scoring goals towards the bottom end of the table. That sounds like precisely the sort of player Dyche’s Everton need.

He’s also outstanding in the box – fantastic at slipping his marker and finding that extra half-yard of space that gives him the chance to score when other strikers might be kept at bay, a trait that has been sorely lacking in Everton’s attacking options for some time. He knows how to use the channels as well, and is adept at surging into gaps left by opposing defences, a great skill to have in the age of the persistent high press. He’s the ideal forward for the modern game in quite a few ways.

The downside is that he isn’t the kind of striker who creates as well as scoring – and Everton are definitely lacking in quality service as it stands, with the likes of Alex Iwobi and Dwight McNeil only hitting top form in brief flashes last season. Retegui wouldn’t sort the team out by himself, and they need to invest in the rest of the forward line, but he would be a substantial step in the right direction.

Everton weren’t the only team who got a phone call from Boca. Several Serie A teams, including AC Milan and Atalanta, were also rumoured to have been contacted, as were teams in La Liga and Ligue 1. There will be competition, but the reported asking price – up to £20m – is not excessive, especially for a genuine goalscorer. They will do well to find a better option at that sort of price point, and would be well advised to do everything possible to meet Retegui’s demands if they get the chance.

Of course, there’s still the question of what would happen to Calvert-Lewin if he was supplanted by a new number nine. He’s been so badly blighted by injuries that there’s no guarantee that we’ll ever see the return of the lethal forward that registered 16 goals back in 2020/21, but if he does get back to his best then it might be problematic to have another player in his role already in place.

The good news is that Retegui does have experience playing in a front two – Tigre switch between 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-1-2 depending on the opposition and available players – and there’s no reason to think he couldn’t strike up a partnership with the more creative Calvert-Lewin dropping deeper. It’s possible that doubling up at number nine could end up giving Everton more tactical options and a greater attacking threat, rather than a headache, and given the respectable odds that the England striker may take some time to build up a fresh head of steam in his career, it’s probably smarter to buy a striker who could easily push 20 goals now and make sure relegation isn’t too much of a concern.

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If they don’t bring in a new man up top and Calvert-Lewin does struggle for form or fitness again, then Everton will be in trouble once more. Add some goals and they should have enough strength in the squad to steer well clear of relegation – and at a time when maintaining Premier League status is so crucial to the club’s future, dropping £20m on one of the best goalscorers in South America seems like a pretty smart move to make.