Everton linked with American striker

Bobby Wood might not be playing for the USMNT during this international break but it appears he has no shortage of suitors, especially from the Premier League. Everton, Leicester City and Liverpool have all been reportedly watching the Hamburger SV forward who suffered a back injury this last weekend.

The forward has caught the eye this season, scoring nine goals in 23 appearances for the Bundesliga side. He’s also become a key cog of the US national team in the last couple of years, picking up eight goals in 29 national caps.

Here’s the scouting report on the player from our US-based writers Adam and Chris -

“The Hawaii-born striker has a high work rate, reasonable speed, and is good in the air for a guy who is below 6 feet tall. He's had the most success at the national team level when playing alongside Jozy Altidore in a two-striker system. He's got the pace to play out wide and Juergen Klinsmann tried him there, but he's just not good enough with the ball in his feet to work out there at a high level.

He's only 24, which is pretty young for American players who tend to bloom a little late. In the past two years, he's grown exponentially, and there's reasonable hope that growth will continue. Currently, his holdup play or off-the-ball movement is not quite good enough to play alone up top at the Premier League level.”

Should Everton sign the player, it would continue a tradition of American players plying their trade on Merseyside, following legendary names like Joe Max-Moore, Brian McBride, Landon Donovan and most recently Tim Howard. Predrag Radosavljević (Preki) and NFL kicker Josh Lambo have been part of youth set-ups at USM Finch Farm too.

WhoScored.com