Everton have now reached an agreement in principle with Sporting CP to sign Youssef Chermiti, with a deal now in place for the striker to move to Goodison Park, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.
Are Everton signing a striker?
Sean Dyche is still on the lookout for new attacking options, with Leicester City's Kelechi Iheanacho being considered, having registered his interest in signing the Nigerian forward back in July.
Football Insider report that Michail Antonio could now re-emerge as a target for Everton, following the collapse of his move to the Saudi Pro League, with West Ham United open to offers for the 33-year-old, who has less than one year left on his contract.
Almeria striker El Bilal Toure has also been "tracked for a while", with journalist Ryan Taylor detailing that "talks were advanced", however they may face competition for his signature from Serie A side Atalanta.
The Toffees are running the rule over some strikers from further afield, with it recently being reported they are in talks over a move to sign Corinthians' Yuri Alberto, although journalist Dominik Schneider adds there is "nothing concrete".
However, Dyche has managed to make a breakthrough in his pursuit of Chermiti, as Romano has now taken to Twitter to report that an agreement in principle has been reached with Sporting CP over a move for the striker.
A deal is now "in place" between the two clubs for the 19-year-old to complete a move to Goodison Park, with a fee being agreed verbally, which indicates the deal is now edging towards completion.
"Everton reached an agreement in principle with Sporting to sign Youssef Chermiti as new striker," the reporter shared on Twitter. "Deal in place between clubs — verbally agreed in the recent hours for 2004 born striker to join PL side."
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Who is Youssef Chermiti?
Born in Santa Maria, Portugal, the forward has managed to come through the youth ranks at Sporting CP, before establishing himself as a first-team player last season, weighing in with three goals and two assists in 16 Liga Portugal outings.
The Sporting academy graduate has been capped for the Portugal U19 team, making four appearances, during which time he has scored three goals, highlighting his attacking threat, however there are doubts over whether he will be able to make an instant impact at Goodison Park.
Over the past year, the Portuguese attacker has vastly underperformed his expected goals, averaging just 0.32 goals per 90, when he was expected to score 0.54, and he ranks in just the 34th percentile for aerials won per 90.
That is quite disappointing, given that the youngster is 6 foot 3, and he may still have a lot of work to do before he is able to establish himself as a key first-team player for the Toffees.
Football talent scout Jacek Kulig has described the starlet as "very interesting", and he still has a lot of time on his side to develop his game, so he could still end up being a shrewd acquisition for Dyche.
However, Everton need to make sure they bring in additional options in attack, ideally with proven Premier League experience, as it would be risky to head into the new campaign with a young player who is unproven outside of Portugal leading the line.
