Everton Transfer Rumors: Nikica Jelavic Signing Assures Top 10 Finish

This season has been a rough one for Everton fans. Everton fans have grown accustomed to comfortable top 10 finishes from their team, so to find their team struggling badly in 14th place has surely been a tough pill to swallow.

Add to that the fact that Everton's squad was greatly weakened (Yakubu, Jermaine Beckford, Mikel Arteta and James Vaughn all left) over the summer without replacements being brought in. You can understand just how frustrated Everton fans have been this season.

Luckily, January has brought hope back to Everton and its fans.

The signing of Landon Donovan restored a sense of positivity in Everton's squad. Darren Gibson's signing also was positively received as the first major permanent signing Everton had made in a year.

And now, Nikica Jelavic's transfer looks set to help Everton make a 180-degree shift from the poor form they started this season with.

Although Jelavic's transfer has not been officially confirmed yet, BBC Sport has announced that Everton has agreed on a fee with Glasgow Rangers for the transfer of Jelavic.

This means that—baring a breakdown in negotiation of personal terms—which is highly unlikely, Jelavic should be an official Toffees' player tomorrow.

And I can tell you right now, there will not be a more impactful deadline-day signing.

You see, like their eternal rivals Liverpool, Everton has had one glaring weakness all season long: The lack of a potent center forward.

Last season, Jermaine Beckford could be relied on to fill this role. He wasn't amazing, but his eight goals and hold-up play made him a good enough player.

This season, with Beckford gone, no one has been able to step in to fill the void. Victor Anichebe is injury-plagued, Louis Saha and Tim Cahill are far past their primes, and David Moyes has been reluctant to trust Denis Stracqualursi with too much playing time.

The fact that Leighton Baines is his team's leading scorer with four goals says it all.

Enter Jelavic. The striker may be unproven at the EPL level, but anyone who has seen him play for the Rangers in the Scottish Premier League will tell you that Jelavic is more than ready for the transition to a higher level of play.

Just look at his goals from 2010-11. Jelavic is no Kris Boyd. He has good positioning and can win the ball in the air. But that's only where his skills begin—not end.

He can score overhead goals, volley the ball, score from tight angles and score free kicks. He's not yet a complete forward—but he's no one-trick pony either.

Everton has a starting XI with enough quality to be much higher than where they currently sit in the EPL.

Leighton Baines, Tony Hibbert, Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin are all proven performers. Phil Neville, Shane Duffy and Johnny Heitinga are dependable backups in defense.

In midfield, Marouane Fellaini is still one of the best defensive midfielders in the EPL. Landon Donovan is a hard worker who's become known for his unselfish play.

Leon Osman is unremarkable, but disciplined—while Tim Cahill is physical and willing to play in whatever role he's asked to play in.

And then of course, Seamus Coleman, Ross Barkley, Jack Rodwell and Royston Drenthe have put in very impressive performances at varying times during the season.

What has held back Everton has been a consistently failing front line.

With Nikica Jelavic addressing that problem, I see no reason why Everton should not shoot back up the table, especially since the gap between them and eighth place presently is no more than four points.