Everton boss Marco Silva has blamed rising transfer fees for the club's inability to fulfil their player recruitment targets in defence.
With skipper Phil Jagielka returning to Sheffield United and Kurt Zouma back at Chelsea following the end of his loan spell, the Toffees were keen to bring in a central defender during the recent transfer window.
But despite signing seven players, including Arsenal winger Alex Iwobi and Italian prodigy Moise Kean from Juventus, Everton failed to strengthen their squad in the centre of defence.
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Silva explained how difficult it was to sign players in the current market and admitted it wasn't ideal that the club couldn't recruit a centre-back to Goodison Park.