According to a report in printed version of The Sunday Mirror (January 19, page 66), Everton are the latest Premier League club to join the race to sign AC Milan striker Krzysztof Piatek, and if they do sign him this month they will be hoping he does better than Cenk Tosun did when he joined at the same time of year.

What's the word, then?

Well, The Sunday Mirror reported that the Toffees have joined the likes of Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur and Sevilla in the chase for the 24-year-old, although the Eagles are said to be in contact with the Poland international's agent already.

The report adds that the Merseyside outfit are keen to add Piatek to their ranks following the departure of Tosun on loan to Roy Hodgson's men this month, which is no surprise given Carlo Ancelotti's only natural centre-forward options right now are Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Moise Kean and Oumar Niasse – Richarlison is naturally a winger, of course.

Piatek hasn't started Milan's previous two Serie A matches having fallen behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the pecking order, but did score 11 goals in 21 matches for them in the first half of 2019.

He'd need to hit the ground running

Hopes would have been high that Everton had signed their Romelu Lukaku replacement when they brought in Tosun from Besiktas in a £27m deal in January 2018, with the Turkey international scoring 64 goals in 142 outings for them prior to his move.

However, things didn't quite work out like that with him netting five times in 14 games between arriving at Goodison Park and the end of the 2017/18 season, before following that up with four in 29 in all competitions last term.

Call yourself an Everton expert? How much did each of these January signings cost?

Piatek showed that he can make an instant impact at a new team with his record for Milan in 2018/19 having signed from Genoa during the January window himself in 2019, although he hasn't quite been at the same level with five goals in 19 matches this time around.

If Everton are to make a late push for a European spot in the coming months under Ancelotti, they need a striker who can help out the likes of Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison – who have 21 goals between them – and convert chances on a regular basis.

Should he not be able to do that then he would just be another Tosun or Moise Kean – who has gone 21 games without scoring – and that is the last thing the Toffees need right now.

In other Everton news, Greg O'Keeffe has issued a percentage chance update of the Toffees signing a new player before the deadline...