Despite having Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and Moise Kean in attack, Everton are still on the hunt for another centre-forward next season – the Toffees have been linked with Hirving Lozano, Andrea Belotti and Emil Forsberg.
Last month, Le Parisien suggested Everton were leading the race for Josh Maja, but whether the 21-year-old would be a good signing remains to be seen. His market value in December 2019 was £6.3m, but Bordeaux may request significantly more money as he’s their second-highest scorer this season.
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Maja netted 17 goals in 49 games for Sunderland before joining Girondins Bordeaux for £1.5m in January 2019, where he’s gone on to make 31 appearances in all competitions, scoring and creating 12 goals.
The Nigerian international struggled in his debut season at the Matmut Atlantique with only one goal in seven games, but he’s been more prolific in 2019/20 with eight goals in 24 outings.
Maja has bagged six goals in six Ligue 1 starts for Bordeaux, making the other 15 appearances from the bench. He’s created 11 chances, completed 83.3% of his 204 passes, won only 16% of his aerial duels, drawn 11 fouls, made 11 successful dribbles (65%), taken 18 shots with 66.6% hitting the target and given away 17 fouls.
The 21-year-old fits the bill of an Everton signing under Marcel Brands as he’s a young talent, but the Toffees will have stiff competition from a number of clubs to bring him to Goodison Park.
Le Parisien say Chelsea are keen while the Daily Mail reportedly back in January that Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Burnley are interested. They’ve also claimed that Huddersfield Town, Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers are also keeping tabs.