After the many many lows of last season culminating in one of the most emotional games of football I've seen as an Everton fan which led to the ultimate high of the season, the transfer window has begun in a way which can only be described as a sharp return to reality for a blue currently.
Richarlison leaving for a poor fee if you're an Everton supporter is another blow to our attacking outlet but also a blow to the club and fans as they are losing a player who gave their all for Everton on the pitch and won over every blue off it. The fee, 50m + 10m add-ons if to be believed is terrible from our perspective. We are losing our best player, the player who provides the most to our attacking output and one of the few players in our squad that works their arse off and offers just as much defensively as they do when they're going forward. The sell on fee % we have with Watford bites us even further as we stand to lose 5-6m of the fee to them. Our financial situation and our failure to progress anywhere (As it was with Lukaku, Stones etc.) has meant that we are once again losing an exceptional player, but this time we are losing them and stand to recoup very little in reflection to their value to us and the squad.
The deal puts pressure on a lot of parties. Before the 21/22 season our top creators in the squad were Digne, Rodriguez and Gylfi. Last season we had lost two of them before we kicked off. We lost Digne midway through the season. From having a good semblance of creativity in the side we suddenly had none. Along with their creativity, Gylfi added goals. Aside from him the only players in our squad adding a good number of goals has been DCL and Richy. We are losing Richy. Now we only have DCL.
This is going to be a career definining season for DCL. Troubled by injuries last year he has immense pressure to stay fit and carry our squad on goals. I value him highly and last season at times we were desperately missing someone of his ilk. We needed someone up top to alleviate pressure by being able to hold the ball up or win battles in the air high up the pitch when our defenders were clearing it. I don't doubt that with Gordon or Gray fizzing in low balls he can hit 10+ goals again. It's just a question of his fitness and that isn't something we can rely on.
Anthony fecking Gordon. I don't think many Everton fans believed he would have hit the heights that he did last season and the potential he has is incredible. You could see toward the end of the season he was struggling for fitness as it was his first full professional season but he made a good contribution to the side through his work rate and the signs are clear that he can go to the top if he keeps grafting and adds to his G + A tally. He will likely move to the left when Richy leaves which is his natural position.
The recruitment is absolutely key this summer and is going to be the difference between relegation and otherwise. As noted, losing key contributers to our attack led to a lacklustre season that was devoid of creativity and goals. We relied on Richarlison bailing us out too often and that's not going to be there next season so we need to address those issues promptly or it's going to be a difficult season that may end in further heartbreak.
So who are we targeting?
We appear to have a Tarkowski deal finalised and we are waiting for his contract to finish with Burnley before we announce the deal. We also appear to be very interested in Winks which I am not delighted with. I think on loan it would be a decent deal as it's clear Lampard wanted to play with a style which focused on having a functional midfield that could play decent football and the only reason we bypassed that was because our own players weren't capable. I don't think Winks has much room to improve but a short term deal would allow Lampard to start playing the football he wishes to, the squad would gel to that style and then the season after we can bring in a player on a perm that is better and has more room to improve. I also don't want to spend 20m on a player that has little resale value or potential when we have little money to spend, it would be a poor deal.
Dennis, Cornet, Gallagher, Gilmour, Lewis-Potter and Zinchenko have been the strongest thus far. I'd be delighted if we signed Zinchenko and Gallagher. They would elevate our midfield hugely and the relationship Zinchenko has with Mykolenko as seen with Ukraine would be fantastic. We need more energy in the side but also a midfield that can create and score goals and both of them would add that. Dennis apparently has character issues which worries me slightly but his contribution is fantastic on the pitch. 10 goals and 6 assists in a terrible Watford side shows that he has value and at ~20m he has the potential to sell for further in the future. We are in a very difficult position where we don't have the muscle to compete for signings. If we are interested in someone we don't have a lot of room to budge so we have to hope they want to sign + no other teams compete.
Aside from Richarlison we are trying to shift Kean, Gomes and possibly Mina. That will free up the wage bill immensely and potentially garner ~30-40m.
In other news we have been restructuring the backroom staff. Our new DoF is making some good noise and we've brought people like Baines into the club as an U-18 coach. There are rumours of a potential takeover which is led by Kenyon that is encouraging due to his previous experience in football and the success he's had. Watch this space.
Overall I am quite nervous for this season. A lot rests on our signings.
Richarlison leaving for a poor fee if you're an Everton supporter is another blow to our attacking outlet but also a blow to the club and fans as they are losing a player who gave their all for Everton on the pitch and won over every blue off it. The fee, 50m + 10m add-ons if to be believed is terrible from our perspective. We are losing our best player, the player who provides the most to our attacking output and one of the few players in our squad that works their arse off and offers just as much defensively as they do when they're going forward. The sell on fee % we have with Watford bites us even further as we stand to lose 5-6m of the fee to them. Our financial situation and our failure to progress anywhere (As it was with Lukaku, Stones etc.) has meant that we are once again losing an exceptional player, but this time we are losing them and stand to recoup very little in reflection to their value to us and the squad.
The deal puts pressure on a lot of parties. Before the 21/22 season our top creators in the squad were Digne, Rodriguez and Gylfi. Last season we had lost two of them before we kicked off. We lost Digne midway through the season. From having a good semblance of creativity in the side we suddenly had none. Along with their creativity, Gylfi added goals. Aside from him the only players in our squad adding a good number of goals has been DCL and Richy. We are losing Richy. Now we only have DCL.
This is going to be a career definining season for DCL. Troubled by injuries last year he has immense pressure to stay fit and carry our squad on goals. I value him highly and last season at times we were desperately missing someone of his ilk. We needed someone up top to alleviate pressure by being able to hold the ball up or win battles in the air high up the pitch when our defenders were clearing it. I don't doubt that with Gordon or Gray fizzing in low balls he can hit 10+ goals again. It's just a question of his fitness and that isn't something we can rely on.
Anthony fecking Gordon. I don't think many Everton fans believed he would have hit the heights that he did last season and the potential he has is incredible. You could see toward the end of the season he was struggling for fitness as it was his first full professional season but he made a good contribution to the side through his work rate and the signs are clear that he can go to the top if he keeps grafting and adds to his G + A tally. He will likely move to the left when Richy leaves which is his natural position.
The recruitment is absolutely key this summer and is going to be the difference between relegation and otherwise. As noted, losing key contributers to our attack led to a lacklustre season that was devoid of creativity and goals. We relied on Richarlison bailing us out too often and that's not going to be there next season so we need to address those issues promptly or it's going to be a difficult season that may end in further heartbreak.
So who are we targeting?
We appear to have a Tarkowski deal finalised and we are waiting for his contract to finish with Burnley before we announce the deal. We also appear to be very interested in Winks which I am not delighted with. I think on loan it would be a decent deal as it's clear Lampard wanted to play with a style which focused on having a functional midfield that could play decent football and the only reason we bypassed that was because our own players weren't capable. I don't think Winks has much room to improve but a short term deal would allow Lampard to start playing the football he wishes to, the squad would gel to that style and then the season after we can bring in a player on a perm that is better and has more room to improve. I also don't want to spend 20m on a player that has little resale value or potential when we have little money to spend, it would be a poor deal.
Dennis, Cornet, Gallagher, Gilmour, Lewis-Potter and Zinchenko have been the strongest thus far. I'd be delighted if we signed Zinchenko and Gallagher. They would elevate our midfield hugely and the relationship Zinchenko has with Mykolenko as seen with Ukraine would be fantastic. We need more energy in the side but also a midfield that can create and score goals and both of them would add that. Dennis apparently has character issues which worries me slightly but his contribution is fantastic on the pitch. 10 goals and 6 assists in a terrible Watford side shows that he has value and at ~20m he has the potential to sell for further in the future. We are in a very difficult position where we don't have the muscle to compete for signings. If we are interested in someone we don't have a lot of room to budge so we have to hope they want to sign + no other teams compete.
Aside from Richarlison we are trying to shift Kean, Gomes and possibly Mina. That will free up the wage bill immensely and potentially garner ~30-40m.
In other news we have been restructuring the backroom staff. Our new DoF is making some good noise and we've brought people like Baines into the club as an U-18 coach. There are rumours of a potential takeover which is led by Kenyon that is encouraging due to his previous experience in football and the success he's had. Watch this space.
Overall I am quite nervous for this season. A lot rests on our signings.