The Everton problem: Spending spree brings chaos not success
A series of failed transfer windows threatens to bring end to Silva reign, writes Chris Bascombe
To sum up the problems at Everton, we should consider an ambition of the director of football, Marcel Brands. “My goal for the long term is to bring this club to a situation, like the top clubs, where you bring two or three new players and maybe get two or three players out in each window – that should give the club more stability,” Brands said.
To put it into perspective, Brands has been actively involved in negotiating over 60 deals since joining Everton in 2018. If that demonstrates the level of debris to clear over the past 12 months, the club’s recent return on investment shows Brands is still some way off the serenity he craves.
Everton have the seventhhighest annual wage bill in the Premier League. This season, it equates to each player costing £462,857 per point, based on their average annual salary. Only two clubs have achieved worse value for money this season.
Despite Everton being the fifth-highest spender in the last transfer window – albeit they recouped money from sales, too – they are in the bottom three.
This is not the payback Farhad Moshiri, the owner, envisioned when announcing his Everton investment in February 2016.
Everton seemed to have stability then, among that cluster of clubs in need of a financial jolt to regularly challenge the top four. They had had two managers in 14 years. Moshiri has already sacked three and has never given much of an impression he is overly enamoured with Marco Silva.
Silva goes into tomorrow’s game with West Ham having raised the stakes on his future by introducing the idea of a “must-win” fixture after the last defeat at Burnley. No one else at Goodison Park has suggested the manager will go if his side loses for the fifth consecutive league match, and the club insist they want to give him time. But – as the Gwladys Street chant goes – they know their history. Recent managerial stints have ended after depressing home games when disillusionment turned to fury.
Patience is wearing thin as Everton chase what every aspirational club craves – that virtuous circle where investment brings success, success attracts better players and yields more lucrative sponsors, and sponsors facilitate more investment in the club’s infrastructure and team.
Millions have been ploughed into the squad during an era when Manchester United, Arsenal and
– to a lesser extent – Chelsea have been weaker. Had these resources been put to better use, Everton would now be the natural rivals of Leicester City, pursuing realistic top-four aspirations. Instead, even when money is available, they operate in a challenging market where the most coveted players want European football elsewhere.
It has prompted a series of risky and, in some cases, catastrophic recruitment decisions, the consequences of which continue to have a debilitating impact.
It has been a steep learning curve for the owner during what, so far, has been an unproductive reign, but he cannot be accused of not putting his hand in his pocket.
Much of the current difficulties are still traced back to the summer of 2017, when manager Ronald Koeman and director of football Steve Walsh oversaw a £144million spree to rebuild the squad.
Of the 14 deals, only Jordan Pickford can be deemed a success. Michael Keane was in better form until recently and Gylfi Sigurdsson has been similarly inconsistent, but the sale of Romelu Lukaku has had a profound impact on the team.
After Koeman’s sacking, Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun arrived under Sam Allardyce the following January, the duo sneaking in just before a review of transfer policy insisted on ending such expensive deals for ageing earners. Neither can be offloaded so continue to make their anonymous weekly appearances from the bench.
Brands replaced Walsh in 2018 and his early restructuring work was encouraging, removing some of the biggest salaries while securing a genuine, Champions Leaguecalibre player in Lucas Digne and the promising Richarlison. Loan signings Andre Gomes and Kurt Zouma were a class above those they replaced, too. But last summer’s transfer window left the club with unfinished business.
With Zouma’s loan spell over, Silva spent months pleading for a centre-back. On deadline day he was given attacking midfielder Alex Iwobi, one of those deals which smacked of last-minute improvisation rather than longterm planning. Then there was the Wilfried Zaha affair. There never seemed too much determination from Brands and Silva about pursuing the Crystal Palace winger – the club going so far as issuing a statement ending their interest.
Despite a further £122 million in 2019, Everton have an unbalanced squad, desperately lacking in attacking areas where they remain dependent on the promise of Dominic Calvert-lewin and Moise Kean. That is hurting Silva.
The manager is inevitably taking the most flak. Dropping into the bottom three raises doubts Silva can meet his objective of improving on last year’s points tally, qualifying for Europe and overseeing two prolonged cup runs.
The continued conceding of set-piece goals and persisting with a 4-2-3-1 formation has not assisted him.
It may be with reluctance and – given their injury list – even greater difficulty he goes back to the drawing board. The alternative is Moshiri goes back to his as Brands plans the next major deal.
Everton’s pursuit of that virtuous circle continues. At the moment, they are trying to escape a vicious one.