Everton left to rue failure to sign Champions League hat-trick hero as sources confirm QUADRUPLE interest
Midweek Champions League hat-trick hero Ermedin Demirovic was on the radar of a number of Premier League clubs this summer, with Everton’s failure to sign him now a real sore point for David Moyes, after it emerged that the Toffees ultimately missed out on FOUR striker targets, TEAMtalk understands.
The 28-year-old Stuttgart striker attracted enquiries from the Toffees, as well as Premier League rivals Aston Villa and Brighton, while Galatasaray also looked closely at the Bosnian international and went as far as making a €20m (£17m, $23m) offer.
However, Demirovic was not keen on leaving Stuttgart and made it clear he wanted to remain with the Bundesliga side, where he is regarded as one of head coach Sebastian Hoeness’ key players.
TEAMtalk can confirm that intermediaries also made contact with a number of other Premier League clubs to gauge interest, with Demirovic’s physical style, work rate and ability to lead the line viewed as qualities that could translate particularly well to English football.
Demirovic then provided the perfect reminder of his quality on Wednesday night, scoring a hat-trick as Stuttgart beat Viking in the Champions League. The performance underlined why his name had generated interest among clubs in England during the summer.
That first-half treble, courtesy of notches across 12 minutes between the 20th and 32nd minute, served as a painful reminder of the one that got away for Moyes and Everton…
Everton missed out on FOUR strikers in the end
Everton were among those to explore the possibility of a move for the powerful Demirovic, and his hat-trick on Wednesday will have been noted with some frustration by Moyes, who has been left presiding over limited options up front and with just Thierno Barry as a senior option following the sale of Beto, and the subsequent failure to land three other options.
Indeed, the Merseysiders’ striker search ended without a signing after they suffered Deadline Day failures in their attempts to land Folarin Balogun, Tammy Abraham and Taty Castellanos.
That failure to land Balogun was particularly painful given that the plug was only pulled with minutes to go and with Monaco’s chief executive dropping a stunning allegation over why the £40m deal was aborted.
The Merseyside club had also worked through a number of options but were ultimately unable to complete a deal for a new forward, leaving Demirovic as one of the players who had been considered during their wider search.
Aston Villa also made enquiries for the Bosnian, although their striker plans were ultimately centred on Nicolas Jackson, who had been at the top of their radar. Unai Emery’s side eventually landed the Senegal international to strengthen their attacking options.
Brighton were another club to assess Demirovic as they looked for attacking reinforcements following the departure of Danny Welbeck. The Seagulls eventually turned to Promise David, bringing the striker in on loan from Union Saint-Gilloise rather than pursuing a deal for Demirovic.
Despite the interest from England and the €20million proposal from Galatasaray, Demirovic’s preference was always to remain at Stuttgart. Hoeness sees him as a crucial part of his side, and the player was equally determined to continue in Germany.
His latest Champions League display will only increase the attention surrounding him, with the hat-trick against Viking highlighting the goalscoring threat and all-round qualities that had already made him an attractive proposition to several Premier League clubs.
