EVERTON are in the race to sign Glasgow Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic as David Moyes steps up his attempts to land a goalscorer before the transfer deadline.
The Blues have contacted the Glasgow giants to express their interest in the Croatia star, who is also wanted by QPR and West Ham.
Jelavic, 26, has expressed his desire to move to the Premier League, with Rangers resigned to losing their prolific goalscorer, and the former Rapid Vienna attacker will join whichever club meets his personal terms and matches his £8m price tag.
While QPR are believed to have bigger funds available than the Toffees, Moyes has the £5.5m that Spartak Moscow paid for Diniyar Bilyaletdinov at his disposal, and combined with his pre-existing budget for January, a deal would not be impossible.
Rangers have already compromised on their initial demand of £10m for Jelavic, after owner Craig Whyte was persuaded that few clubs would be willing to pay that amount.
If Moyes is unsuccessful in his pursuit of Jelavic, who has scored 30 goals in 45 games since moving to Scotland in 2010, he could turn to Wolves’ Republic of Ireland international Kevin Doyle.
Doyle, 28, is a player the Everton boss has coveted previously due to his work rate and prowess in leading the line, and Everton were interested before he left Reading for Molineux in a £6.5m deal in 2009.
He has lost his automatic starting place to Steven Fletcher this season, only scoring twice so far, meaning Wolves could be open to offers.
It will be a busy 48 hours for Moyes, who wants to get all his transfer dealings completed early, before tomorrow’s game against Manchester City at Goodison Park. The window closes at midnight tomorrow, but Moyes insisted on Friday that he will not be distracted from the clash against league leaders City and is aiming to wrap up any business beforehand.
Should moves for either Jelavic or Doyle not come to fruition, he could turn to Besiktas’ Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida, 27.
The Goodison outfit already have one hard-working centre forward who has found form, in loan recruit Denis Stracqualursi.
The Argentinian netted his debut strike for the Blues during Friday’s FA Cup win over Fulham, and was moved to tears as he celebrated.
“I didn’t know what to do in that second. But it was for my son, my family and my parents in Argentina. I’m happy I got the goal for them,” he said.
“During the week the coach spoke with me and said I had a chance to play. He told me there are a lot of quality forward players in the team so I have to take every opportunity.
“I thought I did well and I’m very happy with the outcome.”
