Can Wayne the prodigal son spur on Toffees?
EVERTON have been the poor relations of North-West football for the last decade.
They have been in the shadow of neighbours Liverpool, and have watched on enviously at the riches spent by the two clubs down the road in Manchester.
But that has changed this summer as Ronald Koeman has been backed to build a squad that can compete with the big boys.
The Toffees were the best of the rest last season outside the top six. Now Koeman wants to be in the shake-up and he has spent the best part of £90m, so far, to address that.
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and centre-half Michael Keane are fine English prospects, while Sandro Ramirez and Davy Klaassen have arrived from Spain and Holland.
But the headlinegrabbing move was the return of Wayne Rooney to Goodison Park, 13 years after he left his boyhood club for Old Trafford.
The question is whether Rooney can still score the goals, regain his place in the England squad and prove that Jose Mourinho was premature in letting him leave Old Trafford.
Initially, he has big shoes to fill at Everton as Romelu Lukaku went the other way for £75m.
The Belgian managed 25 league goals last season – compared to Rooney’s five – and unless Koeman can bring in a proven goalscorer before the window shuts, the gap to the six teams above them may remain.
But while optimism abounds at Everton, it’s in much shorter supply at Newcastle United.
Considering that they were promoted at the end of April, Newcastle’s lack of transfer activity has taken most observers by surprise.
Owner Mike Ashley has been busier winning a legal battle at the High Court than he has in backing Rafa Benitez in the market.
Benitez has made his frustrations clear for all to see and there have been odd murmurings about the Spaniard even considering his position.
The biggest outlay has been the £12.5m on Norwich winger Jacob Murphy, but at 22, he feels like one for the future.
At the moment, Dwight Gayle will have to shoulder most of the goalscoring responsibility. But there are question marks over him at the highest level.
Much will be expected of Jonjo Shelvey and Matt Ritchie. Those two were stand-out performers in the Championship last season and they have to show they are proper Premier League players.
Despite the uneasiness of their summer business, the Geordies’ biggest asset remains their manager. Benitez is back where he belongs, mixing it with the other high-profile bosses.
Rafa is usually a ‘man with a plan’ and with his nous and record, Newcastle should be good enough with 50,000 fans behind them at St James’ Park to finish above three of the likes of Brighton, Huddersfield, Burnley, Swansea and Watford.
However, recent history shows that we’ve thought that twice before and everyone knows what happened in 2009 and 2016.