Former Everton striker Tony Cottee has claimed that Ronald Koeman's failure to sign a centre-forward during the summer cost him his job at Goodison Park.

The Toffees confirmed on Monday that Koeman had been relieved of his duties at the Merseyside club following a difficult start to the 2017-18 campaign.

Indeed, Sunday's 5-2 defeat at home to Arsenal left the club down in 18th position in the Premier League table, having collected just eight points from nine matches.

Cottee, who turned out for Everton between 1988 and 1994, has said that Koeman's decision not to replace Romelu Lukaku during the summer ultimately cost him his position.

Lukaku, now with Manchester United, managed 25 Premier League goals for Everton last season, but the team have only scored seven times in their nine league matches this term.

Cottee told Sky Sports:

"I’m not surprised. It’s been what you can only call a disaster for the club and that followed on from huge expectations after an awful lot of money was spent by the football club.

"They lost [Romelu] Lukaku, that was a big blow, but there’s been an awful lot of money spent. The one thing they didn’t do, and this has been their biggest problem, they didn’t replace Lukaku. Who is going to score the goals?”

Everton have not tasted victory in any competition since beating Bournemouth 2-1 in the Premier League on September 23.

Since then, the Toffees have lost three of their five matches, including a 2-1 defeat to Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday night.

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