This is just the start: Moyes

David Moyes claims the signing of James Beattie is just the start of his big plans to make Everton great again.

Beattie has arrived at Goodison Park with a £6m (€8.5m) price tag and the job description of scoring the goals to take Everton into the Champions League.

But Moyes knows he must continue to strengthen his slender squad if the Merseysiders are to build on their dramatic change of fortunes this term.

Beattie will almost certainly make his debut in the FA Cup third round at Plymouth on Saturday.

But with the transfer window open for the rest of the month, Moyes reports more new faces will arrive.

He said: “I think this is the start. It is an important signing for us, because I have a bigger plan here and I always have had since I took over.

“I have a strategy and a view of the sort of players I want to bring in, and James fits perfectly into that overall plan for the future.

“We sold Wayne Rooney for £27m (€38.4m) and Tomasz Radzinski for around £2m (€2.8m). That was two centre-forwards we lost just before the last deadline, and now we have spent £6m (€8.5m) to start redressing the balance.”

Beattie fits the Moyes plan, with the Scot adding: “We need competition, particularly when you lose the calibre of player that we did last summer, and James will give us that.

“People are saying this is a lot of money, but it isn’t really. I think £6m (€8.5m) is not big; it is a great price because of the way prices have gone. Birmingham spent more on (Emile) Heskey; Middlesbrough spent more on (Massimo) Maccarone; Fulham have also spent more on their strikers.

“There’s only a handful of Premiership clubs who haven’t spent £6m (€8.5m) on a striker. So for Everton to be considered one of the big boys, this is not a big-money signing. I certainly hope to buy many more players for more than this.”

Beattie cannot wait to get stuck into his new career, the Lancaster-born striker returning north after six years at Southampton.

“In the end it was an easy decision to make between Everton and Aston Villa,” he said.

“The passion and commitment shown by the gaffer and the chairman to get me here and how much they wanted me to join Everton was unbelievable, and it was the deciding factor.

“As for Southampton, it was probably the right time to move on. The speculation had been around for 18 months and I decided to shut it out until someone from the club said I was leaving because the whole thing was becoming annoying.

“So it was the right time to come to a club with such size and tradition. I have seen first hand the team ethic now and I can’t wait to get going and be right in the middle of it.”