SOFA SO BAD FOR TRANSFER FLOPS

JOHN RICHARDSON

BY

AT VALENCIA, Rafa Benitez famously complained that he had asked the Spanish club’s board “for a sofa and they’ve bought me a lamp”.

That was Benitez’s public reaction in 2004, after seeking to bring striker

Samuel Eto’o to his La Liga side – and instead being landed with journeyman midfielder Fabian Cannobio.

The Goodison Park boss might now argue, after being allowed to spend just £1.7million in the summer transfer window after joining Everton, that never mind a lamp, this time he’s been making do with just the lightbulb.

And in midweek the 4-1 derby defeat against Liverpool saw the lights go out on Everton’s stuttering season, and Goodison Park turn dark, with fans venting their fury.

But is Benitez merely a convenient human shield for failures in the boardroom?

Is the Spaniard paying the price for a poor recruitment policy which has squandered almost £600m provided by major shareholder Farhad Moshiri since he took control in 2016? Marcel Brands (left) was brought in from PSV Eindhoven with much fanfare three years ago to replace Steve Walsh as director of football. Last summer eyebrows were raised when he was handed a big new contract.

Richarlison was the first major signing of the Brands era, one of the few major arrivals whose transfer fee

(£40m) hasn’t fallen in value.

That can’t be said of the likes of Alex Iwobi (£34m), JeanPhilippe Gbamin (£25m), Theo Walcott (gone on a free to Southampton, at a loss of £20m), Andre Gomes (£22m) while James Rodriguez (below) proved a vanity signing. But all the blame can’t be dumped on Brands’ doorstep. Before he arrived there was a list of £20m-plus signings which didn’t work out, including Cenk Tosun, Yannick Bolasie, Davy Klaassen and Morgan Schneiderlin, while £45m has seemed over the top for securing Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Benitez will probably carry the can if Everton’s alarming slump continues, but maybe it’s time to look elsewhere, as poor recruitment bites the club in the backside.