Everton summer make or break for Brands
Once more today Everton are being linked with a host of high-profile players in Europe as the pressure for new signings grows following recent performances. So is this summer make or break for Marcel Brands?
These stories have been doing the rounds for weeks now and many of the individuals concerned are repeatedly re-surfacing as potential Everton targets.
It could be that signing so-called ‘world-class’ players would in theory, be a major step forward for the club. If the Toffees could get players like Thiago Silva then it might well make a huge difference to the team and help bring on the youngsters in the team.
But given the Blues record in the transfer market, most of them would probably prove to be a busted flush when they arrive at Goodison Park!
More seriously I think in truth, after what has happened this season, the Toffees need to re-adjust their transfer policy. I’ve said before that I think a lot of these players are unrealistic given the Blues financial position and the now certain lack of European football next season.
There is an argument to say forget about Financial Fair Play and just go out and spend big yet again this summer to re-build the team, even if the club get a European ban for a year or so.
However, I would imagine that won’t be the strategy that Carlo Ancelotti will want to adopt. He wants Everton in Europe asap.
Manchester City winning their case against UEFA yesterday, does complicate things regarding FFP even more. It might therefore make it easier for clubs like Everton to spend heavily and find a way out if, or when, they fall foul of it.
Anyway if the club don’t decide they can or want to splash out big, then they will surely have to adjust the level of their targets. Players like James Rodriguez or Gabriel Magalhaes are, in my view not likely to join the Blues this summer, even if big money is being offered.
So the Toffees need to find quality players who are a little under the radar. Such players are more probably going to be affordable and willing to join a club that is now almost certain to finish this season in the bottom half of the Premier League.
That, after all is exactly what Everton’s opponents on Sunday, Wolves, did. They scoured the transfer market for good quality players who weren’t likely targets of the ‘big’ clubs.
Now several of those players such as Rueben Neves, Adama Traore and Raul Jimenez are being looked over by top clubs here and in Europe.
Those players are now much more valuable in the transfer market than they were when Wolves signed them, so giving the midlands club a handsome profit if they do sell.
This is precisely what Marcel Brands was brought in to do for Everton. The Dutchman was considered a great finder of talent, especially from South America, that others hadn’t identified.
I’ve been a supporter of his since his appointment two years ago. I thought he would finally bring some genuine nous and expertise to the Toffees amateurish recent transfer activity.
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Well now he really needs to prove that this summer. Too many of his previous signings have been disappointments to put it mildly. Players like Alex Iwobi and Moise Kean have struggled badly to make an impact this season.
To be fair to Kean, I think he probably needs another season before Ancelotti can make a true judgement as to whether he can succeed in English football.
The players that the Toffees sign though, don’t all need to be young or teenage players. Everton need some who are more experienced as the club can’t wait for another season or two for all these players to produce.
Virtually all the other clubs who are supposedly rivals to Everton for Europe etc, are making tangible progress and the Toffees are going backwards on the pitch at least.
This summer transfer window is a an absolutely crucial one for the club and Brands himself. If he can’t get it right this time then Everton have to review his position and whether they even need a Director of Football.