Is Jelavić the signing of the season?

When Everton splashed the cash on Nikica Jelavić from Rangers in January, most of us had our doubts.

According to initial reports the 26-year-old made the switch for an undisclosed fee somewhere in the region of £5-8million. A lot of money for cash strapped Everton.

But we needed goals and Jelavić had plenty of those to his name, scoring 30 goals in 45 appearances for Rangers in Scotland, with 17 goals for Rangers in the first half of the season alone.

Previously in the Austrian Bundesliga he scored 25 goals in 70 appearances for Rapid Vienna, while he has scored 2 goals for Croatia.



David Moyes and all Evertonians were hoping he could carry that goal scoring form into the Premier League. But we all knew the step up was a big one and the signing was a gamble, just like any other signing there was no guarantee it was going to work out.

'To sign a centre forward who scores goals in the Premier League normally costs you a bundle of cash, I remember thinking will he or won't he? And I mean this with all due respect but what would £5m get you as far as a goal scoring striker goes? You could go into the Championship and you certainly wouldn't be able to afford the best centre forward from there.' Moyes told the Echo.

When injury struck shortly after signing, we all had to wait a little bit longer to see if he could do it.

A month went past following his half an hour debut against Wigan to his second appearance against QPR with another 30 minutes under his belt.

But once he got his first start against Spurs in mid-March, the goals have just kept coming, with nine coming in his last seven games.

That form has led some people to ask if he could actually be the signing of the season.

Moyes continued: 'I don't know whether it's fair to say he's the best signing in the Premier League all year. Other people will say otherwise. But certainly for us at Everton he's given the players a real lift, and it looks like we're playing with someone who can score and lead the line. We look more potent now.

'He's unflappable. He's had a couple where he has gone through and missed, one at Swansea, but you get the feeling there are just goals in him.

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