Everton will be expected to strengthen their attacking threat this summer following a disappointing Premier League campaign and have seemingly now identified the man to take them to the next level.
What's the latest Everton transfer news?
According to 90min, Everton are one of many European clubs keeping an eye on FC Cincinnati striker Brandon Vazquez.
As per the report, the Toffees are joined by several clubs in their interest in the player – with Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach all keen on snapping up Vazquez's services next season.
Would Brandon Vazquez be a good signing for Everton?
There is no doubt that the biggest area of concern at Goodison Park is the attacking threat due to Richarlison's exit last summer, Anthony Gordon's departure in January and Dominic Calvert-Lewin's persistent injury issues.
No other team in the Premier League has scored fewer goals than Sean Dyche's side this season (23), which has heavily contributed to their plight in the top flight, currently fighting for survival in a tight relegation battle over their remaining nine games.
Indeed, the Everton hierarchy did bring in a new striker following Richarlison's move to Tottenham Hotspur, with Neal Maupay joining the Merseyside outfit on a three-year deal in August.
However, the £50k-per-week flop – who was notably dubbed "poor" by Alan Shearer – has scored just one goal this season over 22 appearances in all competitions and has already found himself out of favour in Dyche's starting line-ups due to his lack of impact in front of goal.
As a result, the signing of Vazquez could be a huge boost to the team next term if he can continue to score at the rate that he has in MLS.
The 24-year-old dynamo has scored 27 times and registered 14 assists over 93 appearances for Cincinnati with a goal contribution every 124 minutes so far – an output that could be highly valuable to Everton next season.
Vazquez was particularly influential in the 2022 season where he found the net on 19 occasions and delivered eight assists in 35 appearances to help his side reach their first-ever MLS Cup playoffs.
Evidently a player who is capable of scoring regularly, an added boon is that the Toffees target appears to create regular opportunities for others, with that potentially outlining him as the ideal Richarlison replacement moving forward.
Judging by those numbers, it's hardly a surprise that the talented goal machine earned high praise from the USMNT interim head coach Anthony Hudson back in January.
After impressively scoring on his debut for his national team, Hudson stated that it "was an outstanding header."
Further praise has been forthcoming from his head coach, Pat Noonan, who commented at the end of last month: "His rise has become because of his own work ethic and his willingness to get better and learn. He puts in a lot of work to not just score goals but to help the team with his hold-up play, with his decision-making, with his runs into the box, and that's what helped him to score a lot of goals.
"His movement in and around goal has improved so much in a year's time. I love working with the guy."
With that being said, if the powerbrokers at Goodison could strike up a good deal to sign Vazquez this summer, it could finally give Everton the prolific and goal-hungry striker they've desperately needed over the last two seasons.
