Everton’s failure to land a striker in the January transfer window was well-documented, and despite claiming otherwise, Sean Dyche will likely be disappointed to see numerous deals fall through on deadline day and thus no new incomings.
His side still remain in the relegation zone despite their remarkable victory over Arsenal at the weekend, and although spirits will be lifted they are still far from safe.
Hoping to ride this new wave of enthusiasm into next weeks Merseyside derby, reports have recently surfaced that suggest the Toffees could also be set to do their business for the summer way ahead of time.
As of last week, Dyche was accredited with an interest in Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the forward was omitted from their Champions League 25-man squad.
It was suggested in the report that he could now seek to terminate his contract, but it is far more likely that he will wait until the summer as he has already played for two clubs this season and thus is unable to be registered anywhere else.
Whilst his pedigree and goalscoring nouse might dwarf anything already at Goodison Park, this does seem like Everton falling back into old habits by seeking short-term solutions to big long-term problems.
Should they move for the £160k-per-week dud, it would certainly offer striking similarities with their deal to sign Sandro Ramirez back in 2017.
Acquired for just over £5m, it was seen as a huge coup to sign the Spaniard who had scored 14 and assisted five in La Liga the season prior.
Such was his tiny fee, he commanded a reported wage of £65k-per-week.
Given he would go on to play just 16 times for the Merseyside outfit, scoring once, he was one of the numerous drains on the club from that period. The forward would stick around until his eventual release in 2020.
Aubameyang would command a far more inflated wage packet than that, and with just one league goal to his name this season, the 33-year-old would probably be just as toothless too.
Not to mention that he has form of upsetting a dressing room, with his fiasco at Arsenal forcing Mikel Arteta to get rid of him immediately. His conduct then led writer Conor Keane to weigh in on the incident, claiming: “Arteta made the right call. Aubameyang became too much of a liability.”
Attitude problems or not, the ageing forward remains a far cry from the lethal finisher that hit double figures four seasons on the run at the Emirates.
There are few upsides to this potential deal, who would only see Farhad Moshiri repeat old mistakes by signing his next Sandro: a disappointing forward who will bleed the club dry.