Everton's 2019 got off to a poor start after they were beaten 1-0 by Leicester City at Goodison Park yesterday.

A Jamie Vardy strike just before the hour mark was enough to give Claude Puel's men all three points, leaving Marco Silva thinking what could have been if he had his own prolific and clinical No.9.

The encounter between Everton and Leicester was one where Vardy saw little of the ball, especially in the first half, yet the 31-year-old still ended up being the difference -- just like in his side's recent 1-0 win over Chelsea where he also grabbed the only goal of the game.

At Everton, in contrast, neither Cenk Tosun or Dominic Calvert-Lewin have been able to come up with the goods consistently -- though the latter's performances over the Toffees' last few fixtures have been decent ones.

With that in mind, be it now or in the summer, Silva must look to bring in his own Vardy if Everton are to reach their goals.

While the football under the Portuguese coach has certainly improved compared to how it was when Sam Allardyce was in the Goodison Park dugout, ball possession and dangerous attacks amount to nothing if there is no one to finish off moves regularly, which has proven to be the case thus far.

Ultimately, Everton need a new centre-forward with Vardy's impact in their defeat to Leicester showing just why.