Everton are one of the few Premier League teams to acquire a billionaire owner and go backwards.
Chelsea, Man City and even Leicester all have majority shareholders with a net worth over £1 billion, but they have each won the Premier League title in the last five years.
Meanwhile, the Toffees have been through four permanent managers in as many years since Farhad Moshiri’s arrival, with a league high finish of seventh place to show for it.
Three-time Champions League winning manager Carlo Ancelotti’s appointment in December was an attempt to prove the club’s ambition. But the club’s spineless 4-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea on Sunday proves they still have a long way to go if they want to emulate the success of their Merseyside rivals.
With chances of playing in Europe next season dwindling, this summer’s transfer window is vital for an overhaul of the squad.
Gylfi Sigurdsson, Theo Walcott and Morgan Schneiderlin are just three names among a host of players that Toffees fans would love to see exit Goodison Park.
For too long they have characterized the perpetual averageness of Everton’s team whilst, I might add, picking up a combined £300,000-per-week in wages.
If Everton could recoup the £89 million they spent on those three, as well as shifting the likes of on-loan players Yannick Bolasie and Cenk Tosun, Ancelotti would have a great opportunity to right the wrongs of his predecessors by investing in youth, promise and talent. Rather than splashing the cash on top-six flops with incomprehensible wage demands.
The Italian is used to signing big names with extortionate transfer fees, such as Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez for Real Madrid, but he will find the pull of Los Blancos is far more attractive than the prospect of teaming up with Fabian Delph and Oumar Niasse.
To be fair to Moshiri, he has put his money where his mouth is in the past with £150 million interest-free loans for the club and has been a key figure in ensuring the proposed Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium can go ahead.
However, wasn’t the planned stadium move meant to coincide with an upturn in Everton’s on-field fortunes?
So far it’s not come to fruition and, if the estimated opening date of the start of 2023/24 season is to be believed, Everton could be moving into a new 53,000 all-seater stadium without the promise of European football.
Unfortunately, that’s the way it’s going to go if rumours linking the Blues to Borussia Dortmund and former Liverpool midfielder Emre Can and ex-Toffee John Stones are true.
Whilst both players have undeniable talent, there is a reason they didn’t/haven’t succeeded at the best clubs in the world: they’re not good enough.
Dwight McNeil, on the other hand, would be an excellent addition to a Blues side short in pace and creativity.
The Burnley and England under-21 wide man has already registered five assists this season and has earnt plenty of plaudits for his performances in big games.
Of course, signing wonderkids with huge potential is a massive risk, just look at Ademola Lookman. But if the last 10 years has taught Toffees fans anything, it’s that the players who move for big money are often less impressive than relative unknowns.
If Everton want to grow into a new European superpower, mentioned in the same breath as Real Madrid, Juventus, PSG and Bayern Munich alike, then appointing Ancelotti and moving to a new stadium is a start.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. And if the Toffees want on-field success in the long run, they need to begin laying the foundations now.
A solid recruitment structure, investment in youth and, above all, players that want to play for the badge are all pivotal in winning trophies.
Sorry, but Sigurdsson, Schneiderlin, Walcott etc… it’s time to go.
(Photos credited to Connor Simmons, Ardfern and Kelvin Stuttard under CC Licence)
