Yakubu Aiyegbeni has been told he will have to work hard to prove his worth to boss David Moyes and the Everton fans.
Record signing must prove his worth to fans
Yakubu Aiyegbeni has been warned he will have to work hard to prove his worth to Everton manager David Moyes and the club's fans.
The Merseyside outfit spent a club-record £11.25million to bring the Nigerian to Goodison Park from Middlesbrough where he will link up with Andy Johnson.
And while Moyes is confident that Yakubu has the ability to bolster his team's goalscoring tally, he expects his new signing to display the same approach as his new team-mates.
Power
The Scot said: "He scores goals and we are hoping that his work rate is what we expect at Everton.
"If it is not then he will soon find out what the supporters think of him, because that is what happens here.
"This is a club that works hard but Yak knows that, he knows the rules and he will abide by them.
"He gives us pace and power, pace in particular. Andy Johnson has that too and you can see how it unsettles defenders in the Premier League.
"We now have a centre-forward who can deliver the goals we need. We have only managed one in the last two games and we have to improve on that.
"If we can put another 10 to 15 goals onto the team's tally, it will improve on where we finish. They could be vital to us.
"Nobody is guaranteed a first-team place but I have seen enough already in training to know he is a goalscorer.
"He also has experience in Europe. He has had plenty of that from the Uefa Cup and we hope we can utilise that."
Compete
And Moyes knows the club must continue to spend big in the transfer market if they are to remain competitive in the Premier League.
Moyes took his summer spree to over £20million this week with the acquisition of Yakubu and then he added former Toffees midfielder Thomas Gravesen on a year-long loan.
Having already brought in Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines, plus German keeper Stefan Wessels and on-loan midfielder Steven Pienaar, Everton have been busy in the transfer market this summer.
Moyes said: "This is a lot of money for us but if we want to compete at the top then we have to compete in the market as it is.
"We are pleased the board have supported us as we have tried to improve the squad over the last five or six years.
"The supporters too have stood by us, they can see what we are trying to do. Before that, when things were not as good at Everton as they should have been, it was not as easy.
"Hopefully there is a much better Everton now for them to come and see, and I believe that there will continue to be progress on top of where we are today."
