Though David Moyes and his side have made a promising start to the season, there is plenty of discontent at Everton right now.

This summer, technical director Angus Kinnear and owners The Friedkin Group failed to deliver the kind of upgrades the Merseyside outfit needed to close the distance on the European pack in the Premier League - Everton kept pace with that envied group, though they flaked away from contention over the final weeks of the term.

Instead of strengthening over the summer, Everton have actually regressed, with Kinnear overseeing a number of damaging sales and failing to bring in enough cover - especially in attack.

Why Everton still need a striker

Everton sold Beto to Fiorentina in August. The Bissau Guinean striker didn't always hit the right notes in the final third for Everton, but he knew how to score goals.

He's gone. Thierno Barry remains. However, that is all. Yes, as you will be aware, Kinnear and TFG bungled a number of deadline-day deals which threatened to cast Moyes' tenure toward purgatory.

Folarin Balogun looked primed to finalise a move to Merseyside. He was at the complex, awaiting his medical, for pity's sake. But Everton were accused of mishandling the deal, prompting the USMNT goalscorer to pull the plug after Joshua Zirkzee had also turned down a loan move from Manchester United.

It's all been a bit of a mess, but Everton do have solutions at hand, and this truly will be a test of Moyes' resourcefulness over the coming months.

How Everton can solve their striker problem internally

Barry has made a solid start to the season, two goals in the Premier League and six goal involvements across all competitions, but he has not yet suggested he can sustain the kind of quality that will place him along some of the finest attackers in the club's history.

Signed from Villarreal for £27m one year ago, the Frenchman scored eight Premier League goals last year, but he hardly produced the kind of clinical displays which would have eased fan concerns over him being Moyes' lone striker over the coming year.

Tyrique George has also made an excellent start to the season. The dynamic winger looks the real deal, and it has already been intimated that Moyes believes he can step up and play at No. 9 if the need arises.

Perhaps Brennan Johnson could also do a job on that front. Though that may illustrate the dire straits the Merseysiders are in as they quest for a new forward.

Kinnear needs to pull something out of the bag if he is going to win supporters back over, which might be why work is already being done on signing a new striker.

How Everton can solve their striker problem externally

Everton have been linked with a number of strikers since the closure of the summer transfer window, but the free agent market may not offer the kind of solutions Moyes is after.

Mauro Icardi, for example, has been offered to the Toffees, but the 33-year-old may no find the same freedom in the Premier League with Everton as he has done at dominant Galatasaray over the past several years in Turkey.

According to recent reports, Everton are keeping a close eye on Conrad Harder after the 21-year-old striker completed a season-long loan moe from RB Leipzig to Strasbourg this summer. They have been keeping tabs on the Dane for a while, ready to pounce.

Harder, who scored off the bench on his debut for the Ligue 1 club, joined Leipzig from Sporting CP for around £22m in 2025, and has the making of an elite goalscorer. He might be raw, but with such power and natural instincts in the danger area, he might just be the perfect Barry upgrade for Everton.

Five goals for Everton this season is impressive, but Barry hasn't been flawless. Before scoring against Ipswich last weekend, he missed four big chances from his past three games. He also missed two big chances against the Tractor Boys before finally converting.

Able to spark immense power from his ball-striking, Harder has the perfect skillset to thrive in the Premier League, perhaps offering the prolific touch that Barry has yet to muster.

The one-game Denmark star's data pool is still rather shallow, but Harder has made a career thus far out of scoring goals consistently without being awarded all that much starting action.

He is a powerful and athletic centre-forward, hailed by talent scout Jacek Kulig for his "very good work-rate against the ball". He might not be quite so electric when moving, but Harder hits the ball hard and true, and in that, he has one over Barry.

Harder is young, but he has already demonstrated immense potential as an elite goalscorer, and he could be the solution to Kinnear's mounting recruitment problems.

All it takes is an injury to Barry for Everton's attacking structure to be knocked down in one fell swoop. Harder could be his perfect challenger, with the powerful profile to dovetail right into Moyes' system.