Are Everton actually interested in Joshua Zirkzee or is it a transfer hoax?

The reports that Everton were interested in Joshua Zirkzee started to emerge a couple of months ago.

They have since been legitimised by Rob Dorsett, the Sky journalist who claimed Everton were monitoring Zirkzee as a backup option if they are unable to tempt Ivan Toney from Saudi Arabia in January.

Many of the reports pad out the vaguest of rumours with a well-worn paragraph about Beto and Thierno Barry, usually quoting Barry’s ‘ten Premier League’ games without a goal and without the context of the striker’s actual minutes on the pitch.

However those rumours do not really stack up for several reasons.

While Everton may be seeking a new striker from January they do play a one striker system and it seems unlikely any incomings would take place without the departure of Beto. But if Everton are aiming to buy a striker who can solve their goalscoring problems why are they trying to buy a striker who can’t score goals?

Zirkzee’s Premier League goalscoring record is atrocious, with two of his three goals in 38 appearances coming against Everton during Sean Dyche’s tactical nadir as they folded to an awful United side at Old Trafford.

The fact is Zirkzee is not actually very good at anything. He’s a striker who cannot play as a striker and is nowhere near good enough to play deeper in a number ten role. He’s been so poor in the Premier League he was booed off by his own fans after just half an hour in one game against Newcastle last season.

And here is where we can probably point to the source of the links. Manchester United spent £36.5m on Zirkzee and will be desperate to recoup some of the money on yet another transfer flop. With the club desperate to sell they will be leaking plenty of reports about interest from clubs who are famously struggling for goals.

It is perhaps no surprise Everton and West Ham are the two most obvious candidates, with Everton’s strikers yet to start to score and West Ham struggling to get the best out of Niclas Fullkrug.

Then there is Zirkzee’s agent. Kia Joorabchian has a controversial history with Everton. A close ally of idiotic former owner Farhad Moshiri, Joorabchian used Moshiri’s complete inability to run a football club to push many of his overpriced, underperforming clients on the club. He made huge amounts on poor signings at Everton and even appeared in the director’s box at the club as he bled it dry.

Joorabchian has previous when using Everton’s interest to generate transfers for his clients. Ageing Fulham player Willian was linked with Everton in the summer – something that was completely untrue – as he searched for a new club.

Joorabchian’s history with Everton, his previous in ‘leaking’ information, and United’s desperation to sell, coupled with the media’s obsession over Everton’s strikers mean this is a perfect storm for a transfer rumour that probably will not, and definitely should not, happen.

There is an extra layer of intrigue that Joorabchian’s most controversial client Edu, formerly of Arsenal and now Nottingham Forest’s Director of Football, was hired by owner Evangelos Marinakis just weeks after the Forest owner accompanied Joorabchian to an auction where he spent £8m on race horses as part of his Amos Racing group.

According to the Guardian: “If the departure of Edu from his role as Arsenal’s sporting director to join the network of clubs spearheaded by Marinakis raised eyebrows this week, it appears less of a surprise given Joorabchian’s long-established relationship with both men.”

And if you wondered where Rob Dorsett may have got his insider information on interest in Zirkzee, it may help you to know that not only did he get an exclusive sit down interview with Marianakis last summer, but has spent the time since writing pieces that were usually clearly being leaked from te point of view of Joorabchian’s client Edu.

Dorsett is an excellent journalist and his coverage of Everton has always been fair and balanced. There is no suggestion anything he writes is inaccurate.

Dorsett is the first proper journalist to link Zirkzee to Everton and it almost definitely has come from his contacts with the player’s agent. An agent who knows that his career at Manchester United is over and his position in the Netherlands squad in a World Cup year is under threat.

Everton fans should not be worried about a Zirkzee transfer. He simply does not fit into the system as it stands and has well documented issues with his attitude from his time at Bayern and Anderlecht before that.

It would be very unlikely that Everton will be seeking a loan or a permanent deal on terms Manchester United would be happy with, and it is more likely the usual agent talk to generate interest in a player who has flopped in the Premier League.