Enner Valencia is currently on loan at Everton from West Ham United.
Everton’s Enner Valencia celebrates scoring
Enner Valencia has told Everton’s official website that he would love to make his loan move to Goodison Park a permanent deal at the end of the season.
The 27-year-old is currently on loan at the Toffees from their Premier League rivals West Ham, but there is a clause in the deal that saw him to move to Merseyside that would allow Everton to make the switch permanent for £14.5 million this summer (via BBC Sport).
And although he has not featured prominently under Ronald Koeman, the Ecuador international insisted that he is focused on helping the team achieve their goals for this season, and would like to be around next term also.
“There are 10 games in which I could play. And those 10 games are vital because what we have to do is seal qualification for one of the European competitions,” he told the club’s official website.
Middlesbrough’s Antonio Barragan in action with Everton’s Enner Valencia
“It’s all about focusing on the present rather than the future. I’m focusing on getting the best performances in these 10 games and then that will be the time to look ahead in the future.
“But I can say from my point of view that I would love to stay. It’s a top, top club.”
With Romelu Lukaku’s future seemingly in a little doubt (via BBC Sport), signing a new striker may well be a priority for Koeman this summer in case they receive an offer for the Belgian they simply cannot turn down.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman
However, based on what he has shown so far, it may be difficult to convince Everton fans that spending an eight-figure sum on Valencia is a good piece of business.
The forward has hardly been prolific since arriving in England, scoring twice in 14 top flight games for the Toffees. While 11 of those appearances have seen Valencia brought on from the bench, the strike-rate he boasts is arguably still some way short of what Koeman would be looking for in someone who is going to lead the line every week.
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