Everton fans must be desperate for a new striker to arrive.
Thierno Barry and Beto added a new chapter to their book of struggles at Everton as both missed penalties in the FA Cup defeat to Sunderland in embarrassing fashion – along with underwhelming displays in the 120 minutes of preceding action.
One option for David Moyes and The Friedkin Group this winter is Ricardo Pepi – who Fulham bid for recently – but the United States international might not be going anywhere after he appeared to break his arm.
Everton target Ricardo Pepi seemingly breaks his arm during PSV Eindhoven 5-1 Excelsior
It was TEAMtalk who claimed that Everton are interested in the American, along with Fulham, Leeds, Sunderland and West Ham.
Everton are interested in PSV striker Ricardo Pepi, would he replace Thierno Barry straight away? 👀
However, Pepi fell awkwardly when putting PSV Eindhoven 2-0 up over Excelsior on Saturday, which was impressively his fifth goal in his last five Eredivisie outings.
The 23-year-old had to adjust his body to reach a cross which was about to go behind him, and spent the seconds when he should have been celebrating writhing around on the ground in pain instead.
If Pepi has broken his arm as rumoured, it could take as long as 12 weeks until he returns to action, meaning a switch to Everton – or any other club for that matter – would surely be off the cards this winter.
Especially for Everton, Moyes needs instant help in the attacking department, so the Toffees cannot afford to wait that long for a new signing to debut.
Pepi would also presumably have issues undergoing a medical, making it hard for Everton to properly assess his fitness.
Hopefully, the injury is not as bad as it seems for the prolific PSV Eindhoven No.9 – who now has 11 goals in 22 appearances this season – but a bone certainly looked to have broken.
Thierno Barry and Beto created Everton history as struggling strikers make penalty curse continue
After Beto, Barry and James Garner missed from 12 yards against Sunderland, history was made as Everton failed to score in a penalty shootout for the first time ever.
Who was your most underwhelming player for Everton? 🫣
Surely there's only one to take the crown here…
It also means Everton have now won just two of their last ten penalty shootouts since the start of the 2010/11 campaign.
No matter the manager in charge, Everton just seem to have no luck whatsoever when it comes to winning a shootout.
Receive a digest of our best Everton content each week direct to your mailbox
