Everton are in desperate need of attacking reinforcements this summer following their Premier League relegation battle last season and now a new update has emerged on the club's pursuit of a long-standing transfer target.
What's the latest on Everton's interest in Boulaye Dia?
According to Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness), Everton are in the race to sign Salernitana striker Boulaye Dia.
As per the report, the Toffees are scrambling to complete a deal for the forward due to his €25m (£22m) release clause set to expire at midnight, and although AC Milan and Fiorentina have both shown interest in Dia, it is Everton who leads in the race to secure his signature.
Everton have an advantage over their competitors due to the Serie A club's interest in Neal Maupay, who could be used as a bargaining chip in a potential swap deal, which would benefit the Premier League club's financial situation.
How good is Boulaye Dia?
After completing the signing of free agent and former Aston Villa full-back Ashley Young, Sean Dyche will surely be fully focused on strengthening his forward line over the remainder of the transfer window.
The departures of Richarlison and Anthony Gordon over the last 12 months have significantly weakened the quality in the final third, whilst Dominic Calvert-Lewin's troubling injury issues have limited the Everton boss' options when deploying his team in the Premier League last season.
As a result, Everton were the second-lowest scoring team in the entire top flight last season with just 34 goals scored over the 38-game campaign, despite making the £15m signing of former Brighton and Hove Albion striker Neal Maupay.
The Frenchman only managed to find the back of the net once in all competitions which led to journalist Paul Brown dubbing the striker's time at Everton as a "total disaster", so the opportunity to use Maupay as part of their negotiations to sign Dia would be great business by the Toffees.
Over 33 Serie A appearances, Dia – who was hailed as a "handful" by journalist Josh Bunting – scored 16 goals, registered six assists and created four big chances, as well as averaging 1.5 shots on goal, 1.1 key passes and 1.1 successful dribbles per game, proving that he is a reliable and consistent performer in front of goal.
To put those numbers into context, the French-Senegalese goal machine was the fourth-highest scoring player in the entire Italian top flight, as well as ranking first for goals per shots on target and fifth for assists per 90 minutes played, as per FBref.
When comparing the 26-year-old AFCON winner's output to Maupay's last season, Dia comfortably outperformed his Everton position competitor in a number of key attacking attributes including goal contributions (22 v 1), shot on target percentage (44.7% v 40.6%), shot-creating actions per 90 (2.29 v 1.45), goal-creating actions per 90 (0.32 v 0.08) and pass completion (76.2% v 75.1%).
With that being said, it would be a no-brainer for Everton to sign Dia this summer as he could significantly improve the threat in the final third and boost goal contributions next season, as well as provide a chance to offload Maupay if Salernitana are serious about their interest in the striker.