Everton considering January move for Sporting Lisbon forward Bas Dost

Everton are mulling over a potential January move for towering Sporting Lisbon striker Bas Dost after failing to adequately replace Romelu Lukaku and missing out on Arsenal's Olivier Giroud in the summer transfer window.

Ronald Koeman's men spent close to £150m during the summer but failed to bring in a targetman that the Dutchman so strongly desired. Their failure to capture an esteemed attacking focal point is already proving costly, with goals extremely hard to come by at Goodison Park, and the Everton hierarchy know that a new striking recruit is vital during the winter months.

Their need for a powerful centre-forward has led them to consider Dost, who has been in fine form for Sporting since joining them from Wolfsburg in 2016. The Holland international has scored 36 goals in 41 matches for the Portuguese giants. His rich vein of goalscoring form has drawn the attention of Everton's director of football Steve Walsh, who ran the rule over the 28-year-old during his side's recent Champions League group stage match against Barcelona last month, according to ESPN.

Sporting signed Dost for around €10m (£8.9m, $11.7m) last summer and would understandably be reluctant to part with the Dutchman as they seek to reclaim their Liga NOS title after finishing third last season, but the club's president Bruno de Carvalho admitted a few months ago that he would flog the forward if a "crazy offer" arrived.

"All I can do is confirm that I don't have the need to sell at this time," de Carvalho was quoted as saying by Gianluca Di Marzio in May. "However, if I receive a crazy offer, I will accept. If I have a good offer, and the willingness of the player, we'll see".

Everton are now in the position to put together crazy offers thanks to the financial muscle of Farhad Moshiri and ever-growing money machine that is the Premier League, but it remains to be seen if they follow through on their interest for Dost, who is not the only forward on their radar.

Bournemouth forward Joshua King, who scored for the Cherries during their recent 2-1 defeat by Everton at Goodison Park, is also being considered by the Toffees chiefs, though a move to prise the Norwegian away from the south coast could prove difficult; the former Manchester United youth graduate recently signed a new four-year deal with Eddie Howe's men after scoring 16 Premier League goals last season.