Why Artem Dzyuba would be an effective short-term fix for Everton

Back in September, Zenit Saint Petersburg striker Artem Dzyuba confirmed that Everton were interested in signing him during the January transfer window.

The Russian international, 31, has been a consistent goalscorer for Zenit Saint Petersburg ever since joining from Spartak Moscow in 2015. He bagged eight goals and 12 assists in 27 league games last season that saw him linked with several Premier League clubs, but Artem Dzyuba chose to stay put at Zenit.

The towering centre-forward has hit the ground running in the new campaign with five goals and six assists in 12 Premier Liga appearances. At this rate, he could well go past his last season’s tally in a jiffy.

With Dzyuba scoring goals for fun in the Premier Liga, Everton must not hesitate to reignite their interest in him during the winter transfer window.

Marco Silva’s Everton have an array of attacking talents but they just aren’t able to score goals consistently.

The Toffees signed the highly-rated Moise Kean from Juventus in summer but hasn’t set the world alight which is pretty understandable. As Cenk Tosun is totally out of favour and likely to be sold in January, the Merseysiders could do well with an experienced striker in their ranks.

Even at 31, Artem Dzyuba would be a good fit at Everton. Reservations over Dzyuba’s lack of mobility and age would be a cause of concern for the Everton fans but the striker has other qualities and would give Silva’s attack a much-needed presence.

Silva could be looking at a player like Dzyuba to be an experienced head in the dressing room, an older player to mentor young guns like Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Moise Kean.

Calvert-Lewin and Kean are two young and bright strikers that Everton have at their disposal and an experienced striker in the mould of Dzyuba for a short period of time would be a boon for them.

There is no doubting that Dzyuba has the ability. He is a 6ft 5in powerhouse and is great at linking up play. His arrival at Goodison Park would help get the best out of Gylfi Sigurdsson. A tidy finisher inside the penalty area, the Russian looks tailor-made for the Premier League with his strength and power.

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The 31-year-old would give Everton an added element of depth in the final third that they don’t really have at the moment, while also an intimidating figure at the tip of their attack.

Verdict

With a solid goalscoring record for Zenit and the Russian national team, it’s clear that Dzyuba is a quality striker and he could be a great short-term fix at Goodison Park.