I remember when we signed Lukaku. I thought at the time it was huge money for us to pay for any player. Now, for Lukaku at the same stage of his career, it would be at least double the amount.

The only way you can get so much potential on the cheap now is if the likes of Chelsea or Man City have a clear out or a fire sale. Even then there's no guarantee.

The alternative is to strike it lucky with the right match of player and coach. Ancelotti got a relatively huge return out of DCL that no other coach or manager has before or since.

I remember from the late eighties on there was a saying going around:
How do you stop a striker from scoring?
sell him to Everton.

There are some names to remember and many to forget in that piece John. In fact many I'd forgotten played for Everton.

I'll pick a few out and give my opinion.

Andy Gray didn't just help galvanise Everton on the pitch, he provided a presence and character off it and in the dressing room when it was needed. At the time, many thought him and Sharp couldn't be played together. Well, the Scottish duo put to bed to that argument and won trophies together.

No mention of Adrian Heath. I always wonder what he would have become had it not been for that injury sustained courtesy of Marwood.

James Beattie joined as a high profile signing, but seemed to go on a KFC diet as he put a fair bit of "timber" on.

I felt for Jelavic, and to some extent Andy Johnson. The Croatian was on fire when he first joined as he was in the box, with his trademark sweeping of low crosses into the corner. But then he became victim of Moyes (as was then - I don't want to turn this into something else), seeming obsession with moulding strikers into Marcus Bent, chasing corner flags in the channels.

Duncan disappointed me. Barring a few moments, he never lived up to the hype or potential. The reluctant footballer as I used to refer to him.

I did read at the time, that apparently, Saha wouldn't play unless he was 100% fit?

A lot used to complain about Lukaku's touch and control, but that didn't bother me. You want your strikers to score goals regularly. And he did.

Right now, let's see how our new addition Charly Alcaraz does. Hopefully, we take up the option to sign permanently and he continues to excite. He's maybe not an out and out striker, more of a supporting one. Some would say a number 10.

Good article,
However the omission of Tony Cottee, who if I recall rightly bagged 99 goals in all comps for the blues is strange.

There's a very, very simple pattern with all of these strikers. They cost peanuts. Anything below £40m these days is peanuts for a striker.

Third tier Birmingham spent £15m on striker Jay Stansfield last summer.

Brentford spent £30m on Thiago. Bournemouth spent £37m on Evanilson.

Delap, 10 in 27 for Ipswich, will cost at least £45m now I would have thought. Competition could push the price much higher.

Ferguson, 1 goal in 16 this season, could cost £35m.

The more reliable goalscorers start at £65m and even then are hit and miss.

The 20 year old Lukaku we bought for £28m would now cost £70m at least.

There are 3 ways to find a striker who scores lots of goals:

1. Spend a fortune on him and the players around him

2. Show patience in developing him and the players around him

3. Get incredibly lucky

Unfortunately we haven't ever really done any of these things for the past 35 years. Hence only Yakubu and Lukaku - two of our most expensive ever signings (but still miles off top transfer fees at the time) are our biggest scoring strikers.

A great post John with sprinklings of your usual humour highlighting the real deficiency in the squad.

For years I have said that we need to spread the load by buying players who can score goals and always hoped that DCL would come good in that respect.

Only Doucoure and Richy have met that criterion in recent years but hopefully Ndiaye and Alcaraz will deliver.

Its a great shame that Gordon extracted a move as he would have been ideal for us just now but hopefully he will sink with the skunks.

There is always a Jamie Vardy or Gyokures out there but finding them is a matter of luck and circumstance.

We also need to have those players like Dave Thomas and Trevor Steven who provide those opportunities and crosses for the striker to feed off
What I pray for is another Johnny Morrisey, Trevor, Dave or Kevin Sheedy.