Sacked manager Ronald Koeman "had Olivier Giroud in the building" only to see the Arsenal striker change his mind about joining Everton to stay in London.
The Dutchman was fired on Monday in the wake of a 5-2 home loss to Arsenal that left Everton in 18th on the Premier League table.
But the ex-Southampton boss says things might have been different had French international Giroud had come on board at Goodison Park to replace Romelu Lukaku, who joined Manchester United in July.
"I had Olivier Giroud in the building," Koeman told Dutch football magazine VI.