When Everton signed Tim Cahill for £1.5million in 2004, it seemed a smart piece of business.
The Australian had just helped Championship Millwall to the FA Cup final, crowning a Lions career that saw him make 249 appearances and score 56 goals. As such, a move to the Premier League seemed somewhat overdue, yet even Cahill’s biggest advocates probably wouldn’t have predicted the amount of success the midfielder would have at Goodison Park.
Staying at the Toffees for eight years, Cahill netted 68 goals in all competitions from midfield, becoming known across the Premier League for his ability to time a run into the box. While the likes of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard may have outscored Cahill, it’s arguable that the top flight has never seen a finer midfielder when it comes to heading the ball.
Thirty-one of Cahill’s 56 League goals came from his head, the joint-eighth highest amount of headed goals in the division’s history - not bad for someone 5ft 10in tall.
Cahill got his Toffees career off to a quick start: he scored the winner against Man City in his second game for the club and was shown a second yellow for an over-exuberant celebration. But, after three goals in the first half of the 2004/05 season, he went up a gear in the second half of the campaign, scoring eight more times to become Everton 's top scorer and help David Moyes’ side to fourth.
It was a campaign that set the tone for the whole of Cahill’s time at Everton. Whilst he never bettered that total of 11 goals in a season, he became a near-permanent fixture of a Toffees side that consistently achieved top-10 finishes instead of being embroiled in relegation battles.
Cahill’s signing coincided with an era of improved recruitment at Everton, with the likes of Mikel Arteta, Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines all making their own impact on the club - yet it was the Australian who came to Goodison Park first.
Serving as vice-captain, Cahill was a true leader, becoming the club’s leading scorer in post-war Merseyside derbies and costing just £5,396 per game. With that iconic shadow-boxing celebration, it’s also fair to say Premier League corner flags have stood a lot safer since his 2012 departure.
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