OUR TRANSFER MARKET IS DIFFICULT AND RIDICULOUS

Koeman fury at failed striker bid

RONALD KOEMAN has admitted his frustration at the “ridiculous” transfer market which destroyed his bid to land a top striker.

But the Everton manager believes his failure to bring in a No.1 hitman to replace Romelu Lukaku will offer a major chance to the talented young forwards in his squad to stake a claim to stardom.

Koeman is realistic enough to know that even had he signed a frontline player, finishing in the top four without Lukaku’s goals would be a big ask.

He said: “Getting to the top, even with maybe the best striker in, is very difficult. Because everybody is making their squad stronger.

“But OK, we try. We brought some good young players. If we get development of young players, the team will be stronger. We need productivity. We lost 25 goals – that’s a lot.

“We need to find that between a number of players and that is difficult.” Koeman was thought to be strongly in the running to sign Olivier Giroud from Arsenal, but that deal stalled because of doubts over the position of Alexis Sanchez.

The Dutchman revealed he was convinced he’d get his No.1 choice at centre-forward and, when those hopes were destroyed, his back-up plan was also dashed because of the crazy fees being demanded in the final days of the window.

“I thought we had got our option one,” he said. “I don’t mention names, because it is not my job to do names, but I was really disappointed about that option one, because everybody thought we had him.

“You need to understand you have option two and three, and the right price for the right player is also where we have to look.

“Sometimes, if you are interested in a player and you know what they ask for that player, it is ridiculous.”

Now Koeman has been left with

young England prospect Dominic CalvertLewin (top left) and Spanish Under-21 sensation Sandro Ramirez (bottom left) to take the burden up front. He believes with the help of older stars, such as Wayne Rooney, they can thrive, starting with today’s visit of Spurs.

“We will give more opportunities to the strikers we have in the team,” he added. “But we have to understand Ramirez is 22 and Dominic is 20 – it’s Premier League, not junior football, and they need time to adapt and improve.

“It is important for them to have older players they can learn from. You cannot expect Ramirez to already be that striker.

“He needs time.”