Everton failed to bring in some new additions to strengthen their squad at Goodison Park over the January transfer window despite the shock departure of Anthony Gordon.
New manager Sean Dyche was only confirmed the day before Deadline Day which left minimal time for the former Burnley boss to put in place some transfer targets for the Everton recruitment team to work on, however, the powerbrokers at the club had plenty of time to do so ahead of his appointment.
The Toffees are currently one point deep in the relegation zone after 22 outings with the worst goal tally in the entire Premier League with just 12 scored, proving that the signing of a prolific goal-scorer to bolster the attacking threat could have been a huge boost in their relegation battle over the remainder of the season.
One player who was linked with a move to Merseyside last month was former Aston Villa striker Danny Ings, who eventually made a £15m move to West Ham United after Everton failed to meet the asking price.
Everton needed Ings badly
The 30-year-old’s Premier League experience and consistent goal-scoring record would have been massively advantageous to Everton in their pursuit to improve performances at Goodison and there is no doubt that Farhad Moshiri has had a howler by not pressing for a move.
Over his 353 career appearances to date, Ings – who was hailed a “goal machine” by CBS Sports writer Joe Prince-Wright – has scored 120 goals and registered 37 assists with a goal contribution every 154 minutes, an output that would have been extremely valuable to Dyche.
The Merseysiders’ desperation for more goal contributions and creativity in the final third has been even more concerning following the latest hamstring injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, with the Toffees striker picking up yet another fitness issue leaving the manager with even fewer options and less experienced forwards to lean on until he recovers.
The signing of Ings would have prevented Everton from falling into a situation where they needed to recall a young academy graduate from loan with Ellis Simms brought back to the club after flourishing at the Stadium of Light with Sunderland in the Championship over the first half of the season.
With that being said, it is without question Dyche has been left with little resources and a difficult challenge to get Everton back on track and if the club do find themselves relegated at the end of the season it would’ve been a preventable disaster that will haunt Moshiri.