Everton backed to sign 'two striker standouts' on free transfers after '£80m' twist
Everton could look to use the money made from the sales of Iliman Ndiaye and Beto to fund a contract offer to free agent Mauro Icardi.
That is according to former Toffees chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Argentine frontman could be worth a gamble for his former club.
David Moyes has been left with just one recognised senior striker in his squad, after a disastrous deadline day saw Everton sell Beto, and ultimately fail to get their move for Folarin Balogun now.
Wyness feels that they must now turn their attention towards the free agent market and feels that Icardi and former Manchester United forward Anthony Martial are the "two standouts" in terms of what is currently available.
Premier League clubs can sign free agents outside the transfer window, but must register them ahead of the registration deadline, which is reportedly around one week after each window closes.
The sales of Ndiaye and Beto have boosted Everton's coffers by £80million in total, and Wyness believes that they could do far worse than using a chunk of that to try and tempt Icardi.
Everton to gamble on Mauro Icardi 'soap opera'
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that his former club may have to gamble on the "soap opera" surrounding Icardi.
The 33-year-old has endured numerous off-field issues in recent years, but still netted 16 goals for Galatasaray last term in the final year of his contract, and has had interest from the likes of Lazio of late.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained why a move for the former PSG star should be a genuine option for Everton.
"Thierno Barry is the only senior striker. There's a young star in the U21s, but I don't think Moyes will be counting on that," he said.
"The option that Everton are left with now is to look into the free agent market. And I had a look this morning at looking at that now.
"There's Mauro Icardi, he's a bit of a walking soap opera, and you've got people like Anthony Martial. Those are the two standouts.
"Those are the sort of options now. They've got all this money banked from selling Beto and Ndiaye; there's £80m that's come into the club, then the wages for somebody like that could work out, and that could be one solution that could really calm the fans down."
Ex-scout blasts Friedkins for selling star £20m below value
Former Everton scout Bryan King told Football Insider on Wednesday that his former club missed out on £20m in value through their sale on Ndiaye to Manchester City.
The Senegal international was sold to the Citizens in a £60m deadline-day deal, which was due to rise to £5m through a series of add-ons.
However, King is adamant that The Friedkin Group should not have allowed the 26-year-old to leave for anything less than £80m, given they were under no pressure to sell him.
Ndiaye has starred for the Toffees in recent years, and King believes that they have missed a trick with the terms of their sale.