Everton had the chance to sign Celtic forward Moussa Dembélé after selling Romelu Lukaku but did not follow up on their initial interest.

Former Head of Scouting for Celtic and more recently Huddersfield Town's Head of Football operations, David Moss, told the Daily Mail that the Blues thought about signing the 21-year-old over the summer.

Moss told the newspaper that the club asked for his advice on signing the young French forward and he informed them that there was no need to “even think about it” because signing him was and remains "a no-brainer.”

There had been rumours that Ronald Koeman and his staff were doing their due diligence on the forward toward the end of last season and that they were set to make a bid quickly following the departure of Lukaku to Manchester United.

Nothing official came to fruition but Moss is expecting Dembélé to leave Celtic in the near future but it will not be just to “any old club” who can pay the money, it will have to be to the “right club.”

A long-time target

The 21-year-old only joined Celtic for £400,000 and Brendan Rodgers’ side can expect to make a healthy profit on the forward whenever the forward departs Glasgow.

Dembélé hasn’t got off to his regular goalscoring form for the Hoops domestically yet this season, with only four goals in the league, but has five in his last five games for the Scottish giants.

The Blues have held an interest in the Celtic forward for a number of years, including when he was at Fulham. The 21-year-old made his debut against Roberto Martinez’s side at the age of 17 in 2014 during a 3-1 defeat for Felix Magath’s team.

Despite that, Martinez was reportedly set to make a move for him that summer but he never acted on said reported interest.

In need of a goal scorer

Everton are desperate to find a striker who they can rely on week in, week out to come up with the goods in front of goal.

Oumar Niasse has the desire and has started to find his feet as a regular goalscorer but he may not be the man the Blues can rely on to replace the Lukaku sized hole at the top of the goalscoring charts.

Sandro Ramirez has fallen out of favour at Goodison Park but is working his way back into the matchday squad under interim boss David Unsworth.

The Spaniard joined Everton from Malaga during the summer and came to Merseyside with a number of big recommendations but he is yet to force his way into the Blues starting eleven on a regular basis, despite getting a few chances with Unsworth.

He has also been linked with a move away from Goodison Park in recent week with a number of Spanish clubs reportedly willing to take him back to his homeland on loan for the remainder of the campaign.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Everton’s only other first-team striker, is full of promise but hasn’t established himself as a striker the Blues can rely on for goals.

Whoever takes over as manager at Goodison Park could do much worse than approach the Hoops in January with a formal bid.