Everton have agreed a deal to sign Shani Tarashaj from Grasshopper for a fee of around £3m.
The 20-year-old will be loaned back to Grasshoppers for the rest of the season as part of the deal.
The forward, who is of Albanian descent, has been capped at under-21 level by Switzerland and scored in their 3-1 defeat to England in a European Championship qualifier in November.
Tarashaj is seen as a promising prospect and has scored eight goals in 18 appearances for Grasshoppers in the Swiss Super League this season.
BREAKING: Everton have signed striker Shani Tarashaj from Grasshoppers pic.twitter.com/DY36Ju2OFv
— Fourth Official (@FourthOfficial_) January 7, 2016
Scott Morris penned this piece for us on Tarashaj;
Everton are close to finalising their second transfer of the window, bringing to youngster Shani Tarashaj from Grasshopper Club Zürich on a four-and-a-half year deal. 99.9% of us will not have watched him play, so what exactly is it about the Swiss under-21’s international that made the Blues pay £3m for his services?
The 20-year-old was born in Hausen am Albis, Switzerland in 1995, and played through all levels of youth football for Grasshopper. He made his professional debut in August 2014 in which he was brought on against FC Sion in the 73rd minute of a goalless draw, but was not able to make an impact on the first team in his season.
This season, though, is a completely different story. The forward scored 5 goals in 4 games early on in the season and has now scored 9 in 20 appearances as a secondary striker in all competitions, a similar position as to which Steven Naismith plays which would see the Swiss as a like-for-like replacement. Not only has he been in good form for his club, for the Switzerland U21’s he has scored 5 goals in 8 games and has a good track record on the international youth stage.
Unfortunately for Evertonian’s we won’t be getting a taste for the youngster at Goodison this season after it was agreed that Tarashaj would return to Grasshopper for the remainder of the season to aid his development. With the forward only finding his feet in first team football this season it would be wise not to thrust the Swiss into the limelight of the Premier League when he could continue his fine form and hopefully develop into a first team player by August.
I’m sure most Evertonian’s will now have a reason to keep and eye on Swiss football, and only time will tell if this kid will turn into a truly frightening prospect to add to an already talented young squad.