Everton, Burnley and West Ham United were all in the market for goalscorers this summer.
Talksport pundit Perry Groves has questioned why Everton failed to sign a pair of strikers later snapped up by Burnley and West Ham.
All three sides sought to strengthen their goalscoring options in the summer, with Everton eventually settling on Wayne Rooney and Sandro Ramirez.
Neither Rooney or Ramirez could really be considered as traditional number 9s, however, unlike those recruited by Burnley and West Ham.
Discussing Everton’s problems this season, former Arsenal winger Groves told Friday’s Jim White show (11:12): “The recruitment wasn’t great.
“Everybody knows they signed three number 10s, so you’re signing decent players but not with a vision of where they are going to fit into your system.
“Look at (the Burnley manager, Sean) Dyche, when they lost the lad (Andre) Gray to Watford, he got (Chris) Wood in straight away. So why couldn’t Everton have that sort of player in place?
“(Javier) Hernandez went to West Ham, why weren’t Everton in for Hernandez if they’re looking for a centre forward?
“It looks like there’s no cohesive plan.”
While Groves may have a point, of the two players he mentions, only Wood (167) can boast a better minutes-per-goal tally than Rooney (191) in this season’s Premier League, with Hernandez (208) lagging slightly behind the pair.
Rooney (free) was also considerably cheaper than both Wood and Hernandez, who cost £15 million and £16 million respectively, according to Transfermarkt.
Everton, incidentally, have been linked with a move for Dyche as they seek to replace Ronald Koeman as manager.
Would you have wanted Wood or Hernandez at Everton?
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