Everton aren’t as blessed as Man Utd… they need Romelu Lukaku type to make top - Collymore

Ronald Koeman sold Lukaku to Manchester United for £75million during the summer transfer window.

Lukaku came back to haunt his old club when he netted in United’s 4-0 win over the Toffees on Sunday at Old Trafford.

In the wake of the Belgian’s departure, Everton spent big and even brought Wayne Rooney back to Goodison Park.

But Collymore thinks the Merseyside outfit are missing a big-name striker of the Lukaku mould which could be the difference between playing in Europe’s premier competition and the Europa League.

“You only have to look at what Romelu Lukaku has done at United since his move from Everton to see how important reliable goalscorers are to teams," Collymore told the Daily Mirror.

“The Belgian has hit the ground running, he’s confident and he’s getting the goals which are breeding confidence throughout his team.

“I can understand Everton wanting to flesh out their squad with the Lukaku money in the summer – but unless you’ve got goals in the side you’re not going to break into the top four.

“Arsenal have Alexis Sanchez, Liverpool have Sadio Mane and Mo Salah, while United will have four options up front when Zlatan Ibrahimovic is back, and Manchester City four or five.

“So not until Everton have a Lukaku and a Marcus Rashford-type figure coming through to get 40 or 50 goals between them will they make the leap from Europa League to Champions League.”

Everton, who are in the relegation zone, face Sunderland at home in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday (7.45pm).