Premier League goal machine admitted Everton were ‘desperate’ to bring him to Goodison Park

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There are always stories about club’s missing out on players who go on to become greats of the game, and Everton are now different.

The Toffees have had some great players down the years.

But there have also been some high-profile players Everton have missed out on.

Les Ferdinand was someone Everton missed out on, and he ended up becoming one of the very best Premier League goalscorers ever.

But there was one player who was actually even more potent than him who admitted earlier this year that Everton were ‘desperate’ to sign him.

And that man, was none other than Robbie Fowler.

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Why Robbie Fowler didn’t sign for Everton despite being ‘desperate’

Fowler made an appearance on the Say it and Spray it Podcast in January, and revealed all about his potential to move to Goodison Park.

Fowler actually grew up supporting Everton, and regularly attended home and away games.

But due to connections he had a Liverpool, he ended up signing for the Reds as a youth team player in 1991. He made his first-team debut in September 1993.

“You know, I was going to go to Everton. And people think because I was an Everton fan, you know, I was going to go to Everton, were interested in signing me.

“I went to Liverpool, never looked back. You get to maybe 14 and then you get a chance to sign school boy forms.

“And Everton were desperate to sign me again. But because I’d been at Liverpool and because I knew the staff and all the players and I think we had obviously Steve Heighway, Hugh McAuley and Dave Shannon were really the only coaches that were about. So the hours they worked were incredible.

“So at that point you kind of forget about, in terms of you being a fan of Everton, it’s more about your career and stuff.”

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Fowler became one of the all-time great Premier League goalscorers

Everton’s loss was Liverpool’s gain, as Fowler went on to spend nine seasons at Anfield, scoring 183 goals in 369 games for the club.

Fowler left to join Leeds United, before going on to have a spell with Manchester City, before returning to Liverpool in 2005.

He also had a very short stint at Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League.

He is currently the ninth-highest goalscorer in the history of the Premier League, scoring 163 times in the competition.

In his earlier years, Fowler was a quick and instinctive forward who was pretty much unstoppable in front of goal, and that decision not to entertain Everton’s interest as a youngster remains a bitter frustration for some Toffees fans to this day.