Everton are on the lookout for a new striker – something you can say for just about every transfer window. The Toffees have always had a problem one way or another when it comes to their men leading the line.
Perhaps they're just not good enough? Perhaps they were amazing two seasons ago, but then fell off a cliff?
Or maybe, they've produced one of the most exciting young strikers to come around in some time, only for a club competing at the top to break a transfer record to sign them before Everton have even seen their best? That's somehow happened twice.
Although, things could soon change, as a man under the name of Che Adams appears to be closing in on a move to Goodison.
It's been a strange list of strikers in the Premier League era for Everton, then – a mix of incredible skill, massive underperformance and unreal young talent.
Here are Football FanCast's picks for the 10 very best for the Toffees since 1992 (also, we're not counting Tim Cahill as a striker, even if sometimes played there. Just wanted to get that out of the way.).
10 Francis Jeffers
Francis Jeffers is one of the two players Everton never saw the best of – but they got a glimpse of it. He made his debut as a 16-year-old and found himself in a fairly prominent role the year he turned 18.
The Toffees controversially sold Duncan Ferguson in 1998/99 but the teenage Jeffers stepped up with six goals in 15 games.
Another six goals followed the next season and Jeffers then averaged a goal every other game the season that he turned 20. The problem there was that he only played 12 games after injuries.
He was exciting enough, though, that Arsenal jumped in to sign the striker – but injuries stopped him from ever developing properly.
A return to Everton came in 2003/04, but Jeffers failed to score in 18 Premier League games. He never recaptured his form as a youngster, where he comfortably looked like one of the best young strikers around.
9 Louis Saha
Louis Saha didn't quite set the world alight at Fulham, but he did have at least one season where he was a truly top player. The 2009/10 season, Saha's second with Everton, saw him score 13 top-flight goals and crack the top ten goalscorers for the season.
That tally was the highest Saha ever managed in the Premier League – and more than he'd grabbed in a season for Manchester United. It's just a shame it didn't last – the Frenchman grabbed seven in the following campaign and just one in 18 the year after that.
But for a short time, Saha was a bright light in Everton's attack.
8 Nikica Jelavic
What is an amazing five months of football worth? Everton snapped up Nikica Jelavic on deadline day in January 2012 and he transformed their season.
Pre-Jelavic, Everton struggled. They'd lost 10 games and no one could actually score goals. Post-Jelavic, they lost just twice and stormed up the table on the back of seven and nine-game unbeaten runs.
That was principally on the back of Jelavic, who scored nine Premier League goals in 13 games. That was enough not just to finish as top scorer for the Toffees, but double the amount that any other player got.
But once again, it just didn't last. Jelavic scored just seven in 37 appearances in the following campaign and then failed to score in nine games before being loaned out to Hull City midway through 2013/14.
Still, Jelavic looked sensational for a period, reaching heights that few Everton strikers have managed since 1992.
7 Wayne Rooney
In terms of his peak, Wayne Rooney is light years ahead of every other player on this list. He's one of the greatest Premier League players and simply one of the best English football has ever produced.
Only, Everton never saw that peak. They'd have Rooney twice – first as a youngster who was right on the brink of exploding into a world-class player, then again once he'd passed his peak and regressed to being slightly worse than when they'd sold him.
In between, he did all of the winning trophies and being sensational stuff.
But that's not to say Rooney wasn't fantastic at Everton. He scored a world-class goal at 16, scoring six times that year. Then he'd bag nine Premier League goals as he turned 18. That was enough for Manchester United to absolutely smash the record transfer fee for a teenager by paying Everton £30m to sign Rooney.
As a result, Everton produced one of the best we've seen, knew that's what they had, and never actually reaped the rewards. It's difficult to think of another example of that.
Even without playing any of his peak years at Everton, though, Rooney still managed 25 Premier League goals in under 100 games. That alone makes him one of the most prolific the Toffees have had. But it could have been so much more.
6 Yakubu
For one season, Everton fed the Yak as much as they could, and he really did score. He bagged 15 goals in the 2007/08 campaign – only two strikers have managed more in a Premier League season for the Toffees.
In fact, only four players bettered that in the league that year, with Yakubu scoring more than Carlos Tevez or Wayne Rooney managed for Manchester United.
As with many others on this list, Yakubu's on this list because of one season. He'd play another two and a half seasons with Everton, but scored only nine in that time – partly because of injuries.
For a spell, though, Yakubu's tally of 15 in 29 games was the best of any Everton player in the Premier League. In fact, it wouldn't be matched for another six years. So even if the consistency wasn't there, that fact alone places him well on this list.
5 Paul Rideout
Paul Rideout's Everton career was fairly poor – save for one season. He scored only three times in his first season, six the year after that. His final full season was only for another six goals.
But then there was that middle one. Rideout scored 14 times in 29 league games back in 1994/95 – a tally no Everton player would beat until 2008. Honestly, though, that's just a sidenote.
It's perhaps cheating a little bit on a Premier League list, but the FA Cup was the real story. Everton won the cup that season and it remains the last time they won a major trophy.
Not only did Rideout start that game, but he scored the winner as they beat Manchester United 1-0. For that stat alone, you can argue that he should top this entire list.
4 Kevin Campbell
Kevin Campbell spent five and a half years as a permanent player at Goodison Park, but his most important time came in a three-month spell as a loan player. That spell is legitimately one of the most important of any Everton player ever.
The club were battling relegation that season and looked to be heading down. Then they brought Campbell back to England from Trabzonspor and he immediately caught fire.
Eight games, nine goals. Six in his first three. He arrived in March and finished as their top scorer, both home and away. An unreal spell and one that lifted Everton away from relegation trouble. Without Campbell, that likely doesn't happen.
He never reached those heights again, but did twice hit double-digits in Premier League seasons. His 45 goals in the top flight is only bettered by four Toffees – three of whom are above him on this list, and the other is Tim Cahill.
So for longevity and that incredible three-month spell, Campbell gets FFC's vote for Everton's fourth-best. Those who witnessed that 1997/98 season may just want him higher, though.
3 Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Doesn't time fly? Dominic Calvert-Lewin is now 26 and entering the prime of his career – it's quite devastating that there's so much uncertainty, then.
Calvert-Lewin hasn't played even half of Everton's Premier League games in either of the last two seasons. Last time out, he scored just twice all year, with only five before that. Again, it's devastating.
That's because the 2020/21 season saw Calvert-Lewin score 16 times. That was the most of any Everton player since 2017 and only one has managed more than that in a Premier League campaign.
The fact that came after a 13-goal season was a sign that the forward was only improving and would go on to score even more in 2021/22. Then the injuries struck.
If Calvert-Lewin was fit, there's little doubt that Everton wouldn't have faced the struggles of the last two years. He currently sits fourth in the Toffees' all-time Premier League scorers list – if not for injuries, there's every chance he'd have reached the top spot by now.
We'll see what the future holds. As things stand, Calvert-Lewin looks at home in the third here, but there is the potential for more to come.
2 Duncan Ferguson
Yes, in terms of loyalty, connection with the fans and the club, longevity, and overall status, Duncan Ferguson tops this list. The only reason he doesn't is because No 1's numbers are a complete anomaly.
But Ferguson is unquestionably Everton's most iconic striker of the Premier League era.
He arrived in the 1994/95 season, scoring seven top-flight goals and immediately connecting with the club. The forward even came off the bench in the 1995 FA Cup final, so he was there as they won their most recent trophy.
Ferguson would have back-to-back seasons with double-digit goals in 1997 and 1998. He'd have likely done so again in 1999 if not for his bizarre sale to Newcastle United.
Fortunately, he'd return to the club he never wanted to leave in 2000 and play another six seasons with Everton.
It's not just the goals, either. Ferguson was an archetypal target man, capable of bullying any defence in the league. He chipped in with goals, but his overall play was simply much more, and the fact he held a high level at Everton and stuck around for 10 seasons makes him a standout on this list.
So Ferguson is the people's No 1 – no doubt about that. He just can't quite match what this next man managed in an Everton shirt…
1 Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku arrived at Everton in 2013 on loan from Chelsea. It was a weird time for the club – David Moyes had left for Manchester United after a long spell in charge. Roberto Martinez was getting his chance and change was afoot.
The Belgian immediately showed how good he was. 15 goals came in that loan season, matching Yakubu's tally for the most of any Everton player in the Premier League. They liked what they saw and paid a club-record £28m to sign him from Chelsea permanently.
A 10-goal season followed, which was a little disappointing, but then things really took off. Lukaku scored 18 in 2015/16 to set a new record for the club. Then he really took things to another level – 25 goals in one season.
That matched Harry Kane's Golden Boot tally of the previous year, but fell four short of the Tottenham star for that campaign.
These numbers are a complete anomaly. The tally of 25 is seven more than the next highest an Everton player has ever managed in the Premier League – and that player was also Lukaku.
In fact, it's as many in one season as Rooney, Yakubu, Marouane Fellaini and Tomasz Radzinski managed in their Everton careers.
So in terms of being the 'best', Lukaku is quite clearly the No 1 choice. It's just a shame he left when he did – another couple of seasons with Everton and we'd have seen some even more amazing numbers, no doubt.