Duncan Ferguson wanted to sign Chris Wood for Everton

The striker in question was Chris Wood, back when the New Zealand international was banging in the goals for Leeds United.

“Chris Wood was at Leeds, right? And I wanted to get him to Everton,” Ferguson said. “He scored 25 goals for Leeds in the Championship, and I wanted to get him to Everton, and it didn’t happen. He was a good player, and he went to Burnley and did well.”

Ferguson was actually a little short there. Wood scored 27 league goals for Leeds in 2016/17, finishing as the Championship’s top scorer. Burnley then forked out a reported club-record £15million to take him to Turf Moor that summer.

And in hindsight Ferguson was right about him. Wood may be slowing down now, but went on to become a proper Premier League striker, scoring 20 league goals for Nottingham Forest as recently as the 2024/25 season. Everton could certainly have done with a player like that over the years.

Duncan Ferguson now backing Will Lankshear

In what is admittedly a pretty cold take right now, Ferguson has pointed to Middlesbrough’s Will Lankshear as the next striker to come through from the Championship.

“The boy for Middlesbrough. I’ve not seen a lot of him. What’s his name? Lankshear, right. So, just going to someone there, he’s banging goals in there, so you would want him to move on up… maybe Everton can sign him. So keep an eye on the boy at Middlesbrough… He’s banging a lot of goals in there.”

Lankshear has scored 13 goals in 13 Championship games this season, and he’s already been mentioned as a safer option than some of the ‘bigger’ names linked with Everton.

But fair play, Ferguson saw what Wood would go on to become in the Premier League, and if he thinks Lankshear is worth a look, Everton would be wise to listen.