Director admits late deal for striker ‘seemed impossible’ after Everton talks went nowhere

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Everton wanted Serhou Guirassy before his move to Stuttgart – a deal that has been described as seeming ‘impossible’ by Sven Mislintat.

A key focus for Everton was adding attacking talent to Frank Lampard’s squad at Goodison Park.

That need was only exacerbated by the sale of Richarlison to Tottenham Hotspur and the injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Neal Maupay has arrived from Brighton and Hove Albion but whether Everton really have enough in the final third is still up for debate.

Other strikers were linked with Everton too, but one target ended up making a move to Germany instead.

Everton wanted Serhou Guirassy

Everton picked out Guirassy as a major target, and he was even left out of the Rennes squad in August as talks with the Toffees took place.

Lampard seemingly went with Maupay instead though, as those talks didn’t lead to a deal and rumours slowed down once signing Maupay became possible.

Guirassy did though secure a move for himself before the deadline, joining Bundesliga side Stuttgart.

Stuttgart lost their star striker Sasa Kalajdzic to Wolverhampton Wanderers, leaving a huge hole in Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team.

Director of football Sven Mislintat is a smart operator in the transfer market though and pounced to sign Guirassy.

Guirassy has already featured in Germany having joined Koln from from Lille back in 2016.

A return to the Bundesliga makes sense for the 26-year-old and he will hope to match Kalajdzic’s exploits at Stuttgart.

Mislintat has now spoken about the move, with Fussball Transfers quoting him as saying that a deal for Guirassy ‘seemed impossible for a very long time’.

Rennes were demanding an ‘extreme fee’ and Mislintat claimed a deal was so difficult, but Stuttgart did pull off a loan with option to buy.

Maybe Everton ran into similar obstacles with Rennes and simply decided to go with a Premier League-ready striker in Maupay instead, with the Toffees certainly hoping that he will outscore Guirassy this season.