Allardyce confirms Tosun interest

Everton manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed the club's interest in signing Cenk Tosun from Besiktas.

The Premier League outfit are reportedly set to pay £25million to bring the 26-year-old to Goodison Park, although Besiktas denied this week that any deal had been struck.

Everton have gone seven games unbeaten since Allardyce took charge, but have only scored 24 league goals this season, which is a lower total than any other team in the top 10 in the table apart from Burnley.

And the former England boss admits Tosun, who has scored eight goals in 12 Super Lig starts in 2017-18, is one of a number of targets to strengthen the attack.

"Him and many others," he said when asked if he is interested in the Turkey international.

"We need a front man, if we can find one. We will be actively looking for a front man in this window. I need more goals in the side than what we have at the moment.

"We have started to struggle to create chances and score goals in recent matches. It is still one of the major problems that we have."

Allardyce, whose side face Bournemouth on Saturday, hopes to have midfielder Ross Barkley back from injury soon, while Wayne Rooney has recovered from a bout of illness.

"He [Barkley] is training with us on a regular basis and he is very close to being available for selection," he said. "At some stage or other, the cautious medical staff will say you can have him.

"Wayne is better. He had been stuck in bed for three or four days. It will be a big bonus for us. They have been out far too long, a lot of the players."

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe, whose side are without a win since November, believes Allardyce has done well to improve morale at Everton since taking over from interim boss David Unsworth.

"Sam Allardyce has done a great job at Everton. They had a tough start to the season," he said.

"He's built confidence levels and got them functioning as a team. They've been able to get a couple of key results.

"He builds his teams well and builds momentum at certain clubs, he's a good guy."