Everton plotting summer swoop for £17.5m "fabulous finisher", Lampard will love him - opinion

Everton will be relieved that they avoided Premier League relegation this season, but they may feel that their squad needs to be improved so that they don’t suffer a similar brush with danger next time around; and it seems that they are already reportedly lining up their summer transfer targets as a new update emerges.

According to The Telegraph’s football reporter Mike McGrath, Everton have joined the race to sign Burnley winger Maxwel Cornet.

As per McGrath’s latest article for The Telegraph, the Toffees are now looking closely at the £17.5m relegation clause attached to Cornet’s contract which has been triggered in the past week.

The reporter also revealed that West Ham United will rival Everton for the Ivory Coast international’s signature this summer.

With doubts surrounding the futures of Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Goodison Park, it appears that Frank Lampard is looking to add attacking reinforcements to his squad this summer. Cornet would duly be a major coup for Everton, especially for such a low fee.

Despite being relegated with Burnley, the Ivorian winger – who was dubbed a “fabulous finisher” by Owen Hargreaves – has been drawing attention to himself since he joined the Clarets last summer, with the BT Sport pundit also labelling him “one of the signings of the season”.

As per SofaScore, Cornet has scored nine goals and contributed one assist, creating two big chances and taking 1.8 shots per game for Burnley. This shows that the 25-year-old is hungry for goals and could be a great addition to boost Everton’s productivity next season.

It has been reported that Salomon Rondon will be one of the Toffees players set to be offered out to other clubs this summer after a disappointing and ineffective