Everton have made a defiant start to the 2026/27 campaign, fighting against a slew of summer setbacks to set David Moyes' side in their stead, ready to challenge for a top-half Premier League finish, perhaps even Europe.

It's hard to predict where Everton are right now. It always feels that way, part of what makes this club so paradoxically exciting - the only team in England's top four leagues to have failed to experience promotion, relegation or the taste of silverware in the 21st century, yet still more thrilling and unpredictable than many other outfits out there.

However, they are not without their shortcomings, and the summer transfer window has illustrated that. Everton are short in attack, and the manager has confirmed that he is surveying the free agent market for possible opportunities.

Why Everton are looking at Martial & Icardi

Folarin Balogun was supposed to sign for Everton in a £40m deal at the end of the summer transfer window. But Everton made a hash of that one, with the AS Monaco striker pulling out of the move at the eleventh hour while at the Finch Farm training centre.

Having already agreed to let Beto leave the club and join Fiorentina in Italy, Everton were left in a difficult position. A deal for Richarlison had also fallen through, and Manchester United's Joshua Zirkzee turned from a potential loan move to Merseyside on deadline day.

Now, Moyes and co must make do - unless they turn to the free agent market. Clubless drifters are often in such a position for a good reason - or an understandable one, in any case - but Mauro Icardi presents a tantalising opportunity.

It has been claimed that Everton are the frontrunners to complete a deal for the veteran striker, who left Galatasaray at the end of the 2026/27 season. Aged 33, it would be a stop-gap signing. Icardi is prolific, but aging and mercurial, often in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

A different track could lead the Blues to Anthony Martial, one-time Man United prodigy. Martial, 30, has struggled for consistency since the turn of the decade, but he has nine goals against Everton and a wealth of Premier League experience.

However, the Friedkin Group are reluctant to dig into the free agent market, and Moyes may well have a shrewd solution to his side's problems.

How Everton can forget about signing a free agent

Martial is likely past it, but while Icardi is no spring chicken, he did score 14 goals in 31 league games for Galatasay last season. That said, the Argentine's wage demands would be astronomical, and whether he'd adapt to a gritty stint under Moyes' wing in the Premier League is another question.

As per BBC Sport's Guilia Bould, Moyes has already made it clear internally that Tyrique George is in line to deputise for the hot-and-cold Thierno Barry up front, and he has since confirmed that he has the requisite X-factor when scoring a sumptuous goal against Man United last weekend.

George, 20, joined Everton from Chelsea for £25m this summer, having previously spent the second half of last term on loan with the Merseysiders. It's early yet, but he has demonstrated incredible potential over these early weeks - bringing energy and impetus in the place of Iliman Ndiaye, sold to Manchester City.

Though Icardi and Martial have their virtues, it's difficult to argue that either would be a good signing from more than a numerical perspective.

George, after all, is playing with a kind of youthful avidity which could carry a threadbare Everton side through the next few months of toil - eventually stepping aside for an attacking addition who could build a deadly on-field relationship with the direct, jet-heeled attacker.

If he keeps it up, it will be hard to deny George a future as a focal member of the attack, challenging Barry at No. 9. That said, Everton aren't exactly swimming in players, and the young attacker will surely be needed elsewhere throughout the campaign.

Let's not forget, Everton will indeed have a chance to address their glaring concerns in January, and it's something that Moyes is bound to consider.

For now, George is up for the fight. Would Martial pack the same kind of punch? He has just spent a season in Mexico with Monterrey, scoring once across 20 outings.

Is George in danger of being hurled into the deep end this season? Quite possibly, but fledgling years with Chelsea and his emphatic goal against Michael Carrick's United underscored his capacity to play a focal role for this Everton side this season.