False nines, false dawns - What next for Everton if Lukaku leaves?

As the Belgian sat out the opening day draw against Spurs with rumors swirling over his future, Ronald Koeman was forced into using Gerard Deulofeu as a false No. 9

Posted Sunday, August 14, 2016 by Goal.com

LIVERPOOL, England -- What's Everton's plan if Romelu Lukaku is sold before the end of the transfer window? Here the club used Gerard Deulofeu as a false No. 9 from the beginning as the in-demand Belgian hitman sat out their season opener against Tottenham Hotspur with a slight heel injury. He sat in front of the press box alongside new signing Ashley Williams, happily posing for pictures with fans in the stands. He departed just before the final whistle and he might yet be waving goodbye to Goodison Park on a permanent basis.

There remains much uncertainty over Lukaku's future status as an Everton player with rumors of a move back to Chelsea picking up pace this week. Antonio Conte opted to send third-choice forward Bertrand Traore on loan to Ajax, freeing up a slot in the Blues attack that could yet be filled by Lukaku.

And should that happen, Ronald Koeman, the new Everton manager, will have a big headache to deal with.

False nines, false dawns - What next for Everton if Lukaku leaves?

Clearly, the new majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri is a very wealthy man but there are no signs that the British-Iranian businessman is prepared to put in any more money than Koeman can raise in sales.

The departure of John Stones to Manchester City for 47 million pounds ($60.7M) saw Williams come in as a replacement for significantly less money. That alone should have alarm bells ringing for Everton fans.

Idrissa Gana Gueye performed solidly in midfield on his debut but expectant Evertonians would prefer a more high-profile signing to be leading them into the season. Yannick Bolasie is likely to arrive for a big figure before the window shuts but with dead wood like Arouna Kone and Oumar Niasse to be moved on, the Congo international would merely be giving balance to the squad should he be signed.

It was Kone who replaced Deulofeu in the center-forward position after the Barcelona graduate ran all he could against Spurs. The Spaniard didn't score but should have late in the first half when his one-on-one effort was repelled by Spurs' substitute goalkeeper Michel Vorm.

That he had to start speaks volumes about the lack of depth that Koeman has at his disposal despite a full summer to sign players.

False nines, false dawns - What next for Everton if Lukaku leaves?

Instead, it was Spurs who were afforded the luxury of bringing on a big-money forward in the second half when Vincent Janssen replaced Eric Dier and the Dutchman showed glimpses of why Daniel Levy was prepared to shell out the best part of £20 million for his signature.

He caused havoc in the Everton defense, dropping off to allow Erik Lamela the space to score the equalizer, and almost scoring himself with a late effort which was smartly saved by Maarten Stekelenburg.

Everton had to make do with Kone. One occasion when he attempted to trap the ball resulted in Spurs earning a goal kick and brought the groans out in the Gwladys Street end - a reminder that although Everton has an investor on board, there has been a suspicious lack of activity in the market to prove that.

For their part, Spurs didn't require wholesale changes over the summer. This squad is promising, for sure, and needed only fine-tuning. Harry Kane will need help this season; here again he looked under-cooked, while Victor Wanyama will give good cover in midfield if he can sort out the timing on his tackles.

Mauricio Pochettino presided over a slow start for Spurs last season but their disastrous end-of-season meltdown was thankfully averted here.