Everton have now joined the race to sign Burnley striker Zian Flemming, as an alternative to Chelsea’s Liam Delap.
After Thierno Barry scored just eight Premier League goals during his debut campaign at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, the Toffees are searching for a new centre-forward, and Delap has been one of the names under consideration.
However, a deal for the Englishman could be expensive, as Xabi Alonso’s side are demanding £40m, which is £10m more than they paid Ipswich Town for the striker last season, before he went on to score just once in the Premier League.
Flemming was on the scoresheet on 10 more occasions than the 23-year-old, finding the net 11 times for Burnley, although his goals weren’t enough to prevent the Clarets from being relegated to the Championship.
David Moyes’ side, on the other hand, didn’t have a single player reach double figures for goals last season, which underlines why they need to improve their attack this summer.
Ranking | Everton’s top goalscorers | Goals |
1. | Beto | 9 |
2. | Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall | 8 |
2. | Thierno Barry | 8 |
4. | Iliman Ndiaye | 6 |
5. | Michael Keane | 3 |
The Burnley star has since gone on to make a flying start to his side’s Championship campaign, bagging a brace in their opening match against West Ham United, and he received praise from former manager Michael Jackson last season.
Jackson said: “He’s been incredible this year. He makes the maximum out of everything he gets each day and he’s on double figures now in the Premier League. But I know he’d happily swap that for us staying in the Premier League.”
Everton join the race to sign Zian Flemming
Unsurprisingly, journalist Ben Jacobs has stated Burnley are hoping to retain Flemming beyond the end of the summer transfer window, which is due to close on September 1st.
However, keeping hold of the Dutchman could be a difficult task, with Jacobs revealing Everton are now showing interest, alongside unnamed clubs from Italy, France and the Netherlands.
Should Everton sign Zian Flemming or Liam Delap?
Based on last season alone, Flemming would be the more logical addition to Moyes’ squad, and the Amsterdam-born striker has continued his form into the new campaign, which is an encouraging sign.
That said, Delap is much younger than the Burnley marksman, at just 23-years-old, and he has previously shown he has what it takes to perform at Premier League level, picking up 12 goals and two assists in 37 matches for Ipswich during the 2024-25 campaign.
As such, Everton should retain an interest in the Chelsea striker, but his current employers’ asking price of £40m is way too high, off the back of a season in which he scored just three goals in 47 appearances across all competitions.
