Everton could turn to Henrik Larsson, the Sweden striker, in an effort to fill the void left by injuries to Yakubu Ayegbeni and Louis Saha.

David Moyes, the Everton manager, is eager to sign a striker on a short-term loan after Yakubu was ruled out for the season with a ruptured Achilles and Saha faces a stint on the sidelines with a hamstring injury. James Vaughan, the forward, is also out until the new year, leaving Victor Anichebe as the only fit recognised striker.

Larsson, the former Celtic striker who enjoyed a productive ten-week loan spell under similar circumstances at Manchester United in 2006-07, is understood to be figuring prominently in Moyes’s thoughts, although the Everton manager is also believed to have had Kléber, a Brazilian striker, watched.

With money tight, Everton have dismissed as “fantasy” claims that the club could move for Lukas Podolski, the £10 million-rated Germany striker, who has asked to leave Bayern Munich. Kléber, 25, is on loan at Palmeiras from Dynamo Kiev but, while he is highly rated, Larsson may prove a safer bet and, equally, would not require a work permit.

Larsson, 37, who scored 242 goals during a seven-year spell at Celtic, plays for Helsingborgs but, while it remains to be seen if he would be open to the idea of a move similar to that which took him temporarily to Old Trafford in January last year, the striker would be available, with the Swedish season having finished.

Crucially, Larsson has had experience of playing in the Premier League and Moyes would hope that he could have the same impact at Goodison Park as he had in the two-month stint with United, when he scored three goals in 13 appearances en route to the club winning the Premier League.

Yakubu’s injury would appear to have ruled out the prospect of Everton selling the Nigeria striker in January.