Barry has done OK so far, scoring six goals across all competitions. Three of those came against Preston North End in the Carabao Cup, though, and he has missed 11 big chances in the Premier League.

The Toffees need reinforcements in January and in recent weeks there have been links to a number of in-form strikers.

And Nicolo Tresoldi looks like he would be a dream addition.

The German striker is now up to 16 goals across all competitions so far this season – and he has just hit his third hat-trick in the space of four weeks.

For Club Brugge, he was on target thrice against Sint-Truidense. His first came just before half-time, when he made a great darting run across his marker to convert a low cross, and he followed that up instantly with a second. He collected the ball around the penalty spot after a great run and pass by Carlos Forbs, and finished clinically.

Tresoldi completed his hat-trick in the 74th minute, tapping home another Forbs cross. It was a demonstration of great positioning by the 22-year-old.

Impressively, that was one of three hat-tricks Tresoldi has scored in the space of just under a month. He got one against Inter Milan in the Champions League, no less, helping his side to a brilliant 4-3 win. He also scored a hat-trick for the Germany U21s against Malta.

Everton would do unbelievably well to sign Tresoldi

Everton are crying out for a clinical marksman right now and Tresoldi is clearly a striker of serious quality and potential.

Duncan Ferguson reckons Everton need to upgrade on Barry as he is hit-and-miss, and Tresoldi more than looks like he’d be one – but the Toffees could face real difficulty getting him.

There are a lot of eyes on him, with some of those eyes from clubs who have a lot more spending power than Everton. Top journalist Florian Plettenberg names Arsenal as one such club who admire Tresoldi, who has a valuation of around €50 million – which is around the same amount Everton were going to spend on Balogun.

Then there is the other potential hurdle of Tresoldi supposedly dreaming of playing for AC Milan, although that’s a move he could make later in his career.

If Everton were somehow able to convince him to come to Hill Dickinson Stadium, then it would be a serious statement of intent.