A Look Back At Everton’s Last 10 January Transfer Windows

The January transfer window for the 2018/19 season ended yesterday and Everton failed to make a single signing despite all the rumours floating around.

The sun sets on another deadline day and which confirms Everton has made the conscious decision to not engage in any business during the window. Unless you count loaning out a myriad of players as business. Has Everton always been so shrewd with their money during the January transfer window? Let’s take a look back at the last ten years, starting with the 2009/10 season.

2009/10 Season

Despite this position, Moyes believed in what he had and as a result, the only arrivals during the January transfer window were centre-back Phillipe Senderos on loan from Arsenal and American striker Landon Donovan on loan from LA Galaxy. Brazilian striker Jô’s loan ended and he returned to Manchester City, current captain Seamus Coleman was loaned out to Blackpool for the remainder of the season.

Perhaps Moyes was correct in his assessment of the squad as Everton went on to win all three of their matches in January, earning Moyes the manager of the month award. Everton would ultimately finish in 8th place that season.

2010/11 Season

Moyes and Everton once again found themselves in a dangerous position at the opening of the January transfer window during the 2010/11 season. With just 22 points from 13 games, Everton was 13th place and just one loss away from the relegation zone.

The Scotsman must have been unperturbed however as he only made a single signing, Greek striker Apostolos Vellios joined the club for a fee of £540,000. The squad was actually weakened in the window as Steven Pienaar departed for Tottenham for a criminally low fee of just £3.2 million.

Things seemed to work out for Everton however as they went the rest of January undefeated, a record which included a 2-2 draw at Anfield. Everton went on to have a very impressive second half of the season, eventually finishing 7th place with a total of 54 points.

2011/12 Season

At the opening of the 2011/12 January transfer window, Everton was in a more stable spot of 11th. Moyes must have had higher ambitions for the remainder of the season however as he recruited numerous players during this window.

First of all, Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic was signed from Scottish side Rangers for almost £6 million. Irish midfielder Darron Gibson was recruited from Manchester United for a respectable fee at the time of £540k. Former and future player Steven Pienaar joined the club on loan from Tottenham and Landon Donovan also returned for a couple of months while the MLS was in its offseason.

In terms of departures, Louis Saha left the club on a free to Spurs and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov returned to his home country to play for Spartak Moscow, making Everton £6 million richer. Everton would go on to finish in the very familiar position of 7th at the end of the season.

2012/13 Season

Everton was off to a flying start in the Premier League, finding themselves in 5th place at the beginning of January. Perhaps the strong form is the reason why Moyes held back this transfer window.

One signing that would become very prominent a few years later was the £3 million pound signing of a young English defender from Barnsley. John Stones would later be sold for almost £50 million just a few years later. Thomas Hitzlsperger was also signed on a free this window. Ross Barkley was loaned out Leeds United.

Everton started to fall behind Tottenham as the season progressed, ending the season in 6th place. They had successfully finished above Liverpool however which is always a satisfying achievement.

2013/14 Season

In 2013/14, Everton was off to another stellar season and under a new manager as well. Roberto Martinez took over from Moyes who had gone to Manchester United to replace Alex Ferguson. At the beginning of January, the Toffees were in 5th place and only seven points off the top of the table. In contrast, David Moyes’ Manchester United was in 7th place.

Martinez seemed happy with his squad and he had every right to be given Everton’s performance. He only brought in a few players this window. Irish international Aidan McGeady joined the club from Spartak Moscow for a fee of £1.8 million and forward Lacina Traoré was loaned from Monaco for the remainder of the season. Nikica Jelavic, Apostolos Vellios and Johnny Heitinga were moved on.

Everton finished the season in fifth place, above Tottenham and Manchester United, who promptly sacked David Moyes. This was a fantastic season for Everton and brought them to Europe for the first time in years.

2014/15 Season

Unfortunately for Everton and Roberto Martinez, this strong form did not continue into next season. By the time January rolled around, Everton was in 13th place and just five points off relegation.

Despite this, Martinez decided not to refresh the squad with new players in January. Their only acquisition was loaning winger Aaron Lennon from Tottenham for the remainder of the season. Samuel Eto’o who spent a very short term at the club was sold on a free transfer to Sampdoria also.

Everton managed to claw their way out of a relegation battle to finish the league in 11th place. This was a very disappointing finish for a squad which threatened top teams in the previous season. Despite the poor finish, Everton kept Roberto Martinez on as manager for another season.

2015/16 Season

It was another disappointing first half of the season for Everton and Martinez as the club was 11th place after their first matchday in January. The squad was sluggish and poor defensively and it looked like Martinez wasn’t able to fix these problems.

The Spaniard made two signings in the January transfer window who both turned out to be disappointments. Oumar Niasse was signed from Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow for just over £16 million, which is a gross overpayment on Everton’s part. Shani Tarashaj was also signed from Grasshoppers for £3.6 million but was immediately loaned back.

This season was the final nail in the coffin for Roberto Martinez as Everton once again finished the season in 11th place, another underperforming season for the Toffees. Ronald Koeman was set to replace Martinez for the 2016/17 season.

2016/17 Season

Ronald Koeman seemed to have dragged Everton out of the murky waters they were previously wading in. At the opening of the January transfer window, Everton found themselves in a comfortable 7th place, a spot that has become a regularity for them.

With Koeman’s introduction came the introduction of large amounts of money being spent on players. Most of these deals ended up being bad deals but at the time they seemed like good moves. In the January transfer window, Koeman brought in Morgan Schneiderlin from Manchester United for a fee of £20.6 million. Ademola Lookman who has been impressing for Everton recently was bought from Charlton Athletic for almost £8 million. Darron Gibson and Bryan Oviedo were both sold to Sunderland for almost £4 million combined.

Everton finished in 7th place, significantly ahead of the next highest placed team which was Southampton. It seemed like Koeman had given Everton its energy back but as we know this didn’t last into the next season.

2017/18 Season

Ronald Koeman was sacked even before the January transfer window as Everton had an unbelievably awful start to the season. With just 8 points from 10 games and his team in 18th place, Koeman was sacked and replaced with Sam Allardyce. The new manager had steadied the ship by the time January rolled around, bringing Everton from 18th to 9th.

Allardyce splashed some cash in the window, signing English winger Theo Walcott from Arsenal for £20.25 million and striker Cenk Tosun for a further £20.25 million from Turkish club Bekistas. Eliaquim Mangala was also loaned from Manchester City. Ross Barkley and Aaron Lennon departed the club at this time also.

Everton finished the season 8th with a very uninspiring brand of football. Despite the solid finish to the season, not many Evertonians wanted the club to keep Allardyce on as manager due to his boring tactical style. Everton management agreed as ‘Big Sam’ left the club in the Summer.

2018/19 Season

That brings us to the transfer window which just passed. Everton failed to bring in a single new face, even on loan which is very unexpected. Everton finds themselves in eight place which is respectable for the first season under new manager Marco Silva whose signings are actually impressing so far.