Everton were keen to give Benfica striker Kostas Mitroglou a second chance in the Premier League, before Ligue 1 giants Marseille snapped him up.
Ronald Koeman could justifiably claim that Everton’s failure to sign a replacement for Romelu Lukaku in the summer transfer window cost him his job.
The Toffees were utterly toothless in the first few weeks of the new season without their talismanic Belgian goalscorer, with neither Sandro Ramirez nor Wayne Rooney providing the same threat in the final third.
But that still does not mean Everton will be looking back on their failure to sign Kostas Mitroglou from Benfica with a great deal of regret.
He remains Fulham’s £12 million record signing but, making just three goalless appearances in the second half of the 2013/14 season as the Cottagers were relegated, it is fair to say he did not live up to his transfer fee.
And Marseille could have the same complaint. Because it was the Ligue 1 giants, rather than Everton, who eventually won the race to bring in Mitroglou on transfer deadline day last August, FootMercato claiming they parted with £13 million.
But just four goals and seven Ligue 1 starts later, Le Foot (14 March, page 4) claims that Marseille are already looking for a replacement with Moussa Dembele, Kevin Gameiro and Vincent Aboubakar on their shortlist.
Everton’s director of football Steve Walsh has come in for huge criticism with many of his big-money signings flopping at Goodison. So Mitroglou could be seen as a lucky escape.
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