With little time where the team should Everton focus their transfers

With the transfer window open and in full swing and the World Cup almost starting, where should Everton focus on in terms of transfers?

Although there is plenty of time left in the window, Everton might not have as much opportunity to make the signings they need.

The World Cup is an inconvenient interruption to all club’s plans, condensing the actual time they have to get the players they want through the door.

As the tournament gets underway next Thursday and doesn’t finish until the 15 July, there is effectively only a few weeks either side of the tournament for clubs to secure the players they want.

Then there is the decision by Premier League clubs to end the domestic transfer window on the 9th August, before the actual season begins. This decision further restricts the time to make deals happen.

Director of Football Marcel Brands has stated that owner Farhad Moshiri will not be simply bankrolling spending this window and that the club must make room for new players by selling existing ones.

So given this policy and the limited time, can Everton get in everyone they might want? And if not, where should the Blues concentrate their efforts?

I think there are two areas Everton must focus on if they can’t secure all the players that they might want. These two areas are central defence and attack.

At the back Everton obviously struggled badly last season, conceding a dreadful 58 league goals.

However in the final weeks of the campaign there were improvements in defence as the club found a settled centre-back partnership in Michael Keane and Phil Jagielka.

But as we’ve said several times before father time is fast catching up with Jagielka and Everton urgently need a replacement to partner Keane long-term.

The other veteran centre-halves the Blues still have on the books, Ashley Williams and Ramiro Funes-Mori aren’t the answers and Williams is also well over 30 too. Neither of them are likely to survive Brands’ player cull.

And although I think young defender Mason Holgate is a promising player whose best position is centre-back, he will probably not be considered as a starting option by Marco Silva.

The club have been linked with several possible defensive players including most recently Newcastle’s Jamaal Lascelles.

A quality defender with pace and preferably as well some ability on the ball, is a critical and important investment.

Moving onto Everton’s attack and there is a definite requirement for more speed, creativity and firepower.

The Blues only managed a paltry 44 Premier League goals last season, simply not enough.

Even if Everton manage to reduce the goals they concede by another 20 next season, they will still need a major increase in goals scored to make any impression on the table.

Having spent £30 million on Theo Walcott and £27 million on Cenk Tosun, you might think Everton should be able to look to these two for at least 30 – 40 goals next season.

And let’s remember that Iceland star Gylfi Sigurdsson, the club’s record signing, also owes fans a big season. But he’s not a prolific goal-scorer and I see him playing a deeper role either in midfield or behind the forwards.

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So that won’t be enough goals and the Blues need at least one, possibly two more forwards to give the team a real threat.

This is particularly vital because Everton are going to be without one, possibly two young forwards who might have been able to contribute pace, movement and goals.

We’ve already explained why last summer’s signing Henry Onyekuru is very unlikely to feature for the Blues next season.

And it’s also possible, based on what Marcel Brands has been recently quoted as saying, Everton might let Ademola Lookman go too.

Next: Young stars to watch at World Cup?

If they do then the club will have to make a significant signing or two of the type that will enable the team to create a much more potent, flexible frontline.

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Where should Everton focus their transfer dealings?

By Matt Townsend | Jun 10, 2018

With the transfer window open and in full swing and the World Cup almost starting, where should Everton focus on in terms of transfers?

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