Kone offers the answer to Everton top league goalscorer puzzle

Ladbrokes offer odds on who will be top Premier League goalscorer at all 20 Premier League clubs and Everton’s is one of the most intriguing, with 7/4 market leader Arouna Kone the second longest favourite across the entire division.

One reason for that is that the burden tends to be shared in Roberto Martinez teams. Wigan’s top two scorers were separated by one goal or less in two of the past three seasons. Another is the lack of certainty about how the Toffees will line up.

However, out of all their attacking options, Kone is best positioned to play regularly. Martinez rates him highly enough to have purchased him for Wigan, started him in 84% of their league games then made him his first Everton signing for a hefty-for-a-29-year-old £6 million.

Kone repaid that trust by mocking the traditional open battle to be most prolific Latic, firing 11 times to closest rival Shaun Maloney’s six.

There is always a risk attached to recruiting a player off the back of one hot season, but the Ivorian’s prospects of impressing at Goodison Park are enhanced by his feat in scoring 15 La Liga goals for Levante the campaign before joining Wigan.

Second favourite Nikica Jelavic doesn’t present quite as strong a case at 7/2. After an instant impact following his January 2012 move, he notched just seven times last term and isn’t certain to remain on Merseyside beyond the summer.

There is a similar mark against the 4/1 on top 2012/13 hitman Marouane Fellaini, who is 10/11 to have followed David Moyes to Manchester United by the time the window shuts. Even if he stays, Martinez is likely to deploy him deeper than Moyes did.

For those not sold on Kone, the most attractive outsider could be Kevin Mirallas at 7/1. The Belgian only scored six league goals last season but five came from March onwards, pinpointing that as the point at which he truly acclimatised.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.