Angers’ Karl Toko Ekambi has taken Ligue 1 by storm this season and has attracted admirers from the Premier League in Everton, Burnley and Crystal Palace.
Everton’s pursuit of a new centre-forward is hotting up as the January transfer window approaches.
According to The Mail, Besiktas’s £20 million-rated talisman Cenk Tosun is one of the names on Sam Allardyce’s radar but a cheaper option has emerged in the shape of Angers’ frontman Karl Toko Ekambi.
According to France Football, Everton have joined Premier League rivals Crystal Palace and Burnley in the race for one of Ligue 1’s surprise packages in 2017/18.
Angers are second bottom in France’s first division going into the winter break but, in Toko Ekambi, they have one of the league’s most in-form strikers. The Cameroon intentional has nine goals in 16 starts, almost half of his side’s total, and is comfortably on track for the best season of his career.
Tall, rangy and an impressive runner with the ball, Toko Ekambi is also capable of playing on the left and would offer Everton manager Sam Allardyce both a presence and versatility in the final third.
The Merseysiders will face some serious competition, however, with Crystal Palace crying out for a striker. Christian Benteke has only one goal all season and there is a lack of competition for the Belgian international.
Palace have just 16 league goals to their name in 2017/18 – only Brighton, West Brom and Swansea have scored fewer.
Toko Ekambi has already demonstrated that he is capable of carrying the goalscoring burden for a struggling side and Roy Hodgson may hope that he would provide some much needed composure in front of goal.
But with Everton ready and willing to spend big, their interest surely makes them favourites.
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