Desperate need for striker prompts Everton's £33m bid for Amadou Onana

Everton have made a £33 million bid for Lille striker Amadou Onana as Frank Lampard desperately seeks firepower before the Premier League kick-off.

Lampard is in desperate need of a striker as he prepares to take on Chelsea on the opening day given Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s injury turmoil has continued with a knee injury which could rule him out for six weeks.

With the player widely credited with inspiring Everton’s Premier League survival, Richarlison, sold to Tottenham Hotspur, Lampard’s options are thin.

Onana’s arrival would go some way to helping if the transfer can proceed.

The 20-year-old recently made his Belgium debut and has been tracked by several Premier League clubs. West Ham are also interested after Onana’s impressive campaign for Lille last season.

The player has only being at the French club since 2021. He previously played for Hamburg in the Bundesliga.

Unless Lampard can secure a deal before the weekend his attacking options will be severely depleted, with Salomon Rondon the only available, senior striker.

There is already unease among Everton’s fanbase heading into the new campaign amid fears that, having vowed to ensure there will be no repeat of last year’s dismal league campaign, the squad is as imbalanced as ever.

Lampard has added James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil from Burnley, but has been frustrated in other efforts to add more quality. His spending is restricted by financial fair play rules - a legacy of the years of waste which preceded his appointment - and there has also been the shadow of questions about Farhad Moshiri’s future as majority shareholder.

Moshiri recently issued a statement insisting he was not trying to sell the club despite holding takeover talks with a consortium led by