Everton have been in desperate need of a prolific striker since Gary Lineker, and this man would certainly have filled that void. Halfway through the 1996-97 season, Everton were dark horses in the title race before injuries to key players such as Andy Hinchcliffe and Joe Parkinson, coupled with the departure of Andrei Kanchelskis, saw the Toffees plummet down the table. In an effort to fix the slide Joe Royle identified SK Brann striker Tore Andre Flo as the player to score the goals to help his side move back up the table. The Blues were quoted £4m, but also had to sign ageing defender Claus Eftevag as part of any deal. They agreed, only for the striker to pull out of the deal at the last minute. Later that summer, Flo singed for Chelsea for just £300,000 and went on to score 50 goals in three years at Stamford Bridge helping them to secure Champions League football, where they would reach the quarter final stage, and win the FA Cup. Had he signed for Everton, its arguable that he might have scored even more goals with consistent playing time, something that was hard to come by at Stamford Bridge under Viallis squad rotation policy and certainly helped Everton with their well-known striker problems.
