Great expectations
Ambitious Everton eager to make up for lost time
LONDON: Wayne Rooney’s sentimental return to Everton after 13 years away fits the image of a club often criticised for living in the past amid the fastevolving world of English football.
The past 18 months have shown, however, that something exciting is brewing in the blue half of Merseyside: A newfound ambition and a determination to make up for lost time after falling behind the English Premier League’s elite.
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There’s a new 300mil (RM1.7bil) stadium on the horizon on the Mersey waterfront, replacing the atmospheric but cramped Goodison Park.
There’s a wealthy majority shareholder in place in Farhad Moshiri, an IranianBritish businessman who sold his share in Arsenal to get a stake in Everton in early 2016.
There’s a highly regarded manager in Ronald Koeman, who holds a fine global reputation from his time as a player with Barcelona and Holland, and a director of football in Steve Walsh, a super scout who was one of the unheralded architects behind Leicester’s improbable Premier League title triumph in 201516.
And – arguably most important to Everton’s successstarved fans – there’s a team filled with a growing number of bright, bold and talented youngsters from England and abroad.
The arrival of Rooney is the signature moment of a busy summer at Everton, a fact underscored by the lines outside the gates of Goodison Park on Monday to welcome home the club’s socalled “prodigal son”.
But he’s a blast from the past at a club looking forward, with momentum on the field and in the boardroom.
“We hit a level, and now we’re going places,” said Michael Graham, a 52yearold Everton supporter who was outside the stadium waiting for a glimpse of Rooney.
Everton’s fans have been starved of success since the club’s heyday in the mid1980s, when they rivalled Merseyside rivals Liverpool as England’s most successful team.
The last of Everton’s nine topflight titles came in 1987, their highest finish since the Premier League’s inception in 1992 is fourth, and their last major trophy was the 1995 English FA Cup.
A nineyearold Rooney was at the old Wembley stadium for that Cup final against Manchester United, a big Everton follower just like his father and now his kids. They were the most pleased to see Rooney return to Everton after 13 trophyladen years at United.
Rooney, a free transfer, is one of six players signed for a total of
£
around 90mil (RM499mil) this offseason.
There are sure to be more, although Everton have recouped
£
75mil (RM416mil) in selling striker Romelu Lukaku to United. Koeman also oversaw the spending of
£
70mil (RM388mil) last season.
Fans are thrilled Everton are making their transfer moves early in the summer, instead of in the last days of the window as usual.
Credit for that must go to Walsh for identifying the players and acting quickly, and also to Moshiri. Everton finally have a financial backer willing to spend big.
“I know from speaking to fans, my family, how excited they are,” Rooney said about Everton’s ambition on Monday.
“It is great for everyone when a club makes new signings. There is a good feeling around Everton Football Club at the moment. We don’t just want to limp around this season.”
Sitting alongside Rooney at his presentation on Monday, Koeman acknowledged the pressure was on Everton in his second season at Goodison.
“The first season was to play good football and get good results,” he said, “but now you need to make the next step.”
The recent spending spree will not guarantee that improvement, though, as Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur know.
Both clubs used money gained from a highprice player move (Luis Suarez at Liverpool in 2014 and Gareth Bale at Spurs in 2013) to strengthen the rest of the squad, but initially struggled to manage without their former star player.
Koeman has to decide where Rooney fits into his team and also how many of the club’s youngsters, such as Ademola Lookman, Tom Davies, Dominic CalvertLewin and Mason Holgate, to start.
Still, there’s optimism that Everton will bridge the gap to the top six by the end of the coming season, with Rooney providing the kind of leadership and experience – if not necessarily the goals – that Koeman’s young team require.
“Everybody knows that there was one really big reason for me to sign for Everton,” Koeman said.
“It was all about this project, and the club is now showing the ambition that everybody likes to have and that is really great, exciting times for the football club.” – AP