Everton: Transfer window big test for Ancelotti
As we countdown towards the conclusion of this season, Carlo Ancelotti is claiming he is sure the Everton board will back him financially in this summer’s transfer window.
We’ve already discussed at some length the importance of this upcoming transfer window. Everton simply must get this one right if they are to make the absolutely necessary progress the club must make next season.
And it is essential that enough money is made available for Ancelotti to spend on his preferred targets. After all having lured the Italian to Merseyside at considerable expense, there seems little point in not doing so now.
While I have to admit to doubts beginning to creep in about some of the manager’s player selections and tactics, he is the most decorated coach the Blues have ever had, so obviously he must have the backing he needs from the board. Anyway what’s the alternative, another lost season like this one has been?
Ancelotti obviously needs time to sort out this side, and this window will also be a big test of whether he still has what it takes to help turn around this Titanic of a football club!
There is the complication of Financial Fair Play rules, which the Toffees are close to breaking having recorded more than £100 million in losses during the last financial year.
Of all the criticisms that can legitimately be made of the Blues board recently, one thing that can’t be said is that they, and in particular majority shareholder and owner Farhad Moshiri, haven’t supported their managers in the transfer market.
In fact you could argue that they’ve been too ready to splash the cash on over valued players who cost highly inflated fees in the heady days and months after Moshiri took over.
Vast sums have been outlayed on players like Gylfi Sigurdsson, Morgan Schneiderlin, Yannick Bolasie and Theo Walcott, to name a few, all of whom have ultimately disappointed.
Of course, this being Everton, the irony is that now having finally added the ‘world-class’ manager they have supposedly always wanted, the club are technically in their most cash-strapped position since Moshiri’s takeover in 2016.
Four years and something like £400 million later, the Toffees are facing their most important transfer window since the Iranian took control, with much more restricted finances.
Or at least that’s how it looks from the outside. Obviously there appear to be ways around these financial restrictions, as Manchester City have shown.
Whatever the exact situation is money-wise, I think it’s imperative that the board find a way to release enough funds to give Ancelotti the financial muscle he needs to secure genuinely quality players and turn this wretchedly underachieving team around.
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However, as I’ve said, I also think this window is crucial for Ancelotti too. He needs to show he still has the pulling power and ability to spot and sign the right type of player to make that breakthrough on the pitch.
Without wanting to sound overly melodramatic, I really believe that this transfer window is absolutely critical for the club’s future direction.
While the Toffees have been going backwards again, established contenders like Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester United appear to be making tentative progress under their new managers. In addition, Leicester City, Wolves and even Sheffield United also now look streets ahead of the Blues!
If Everton don’t get the right players in and make some upward progress next term, they face another season of mid-table or even relegation struggle, something which the club and perhaps more importantly, the fans, simply cannot afford or accept.
And I think it will be too late by then for the Blues to ever catch their supposed rivals in the top half either, all of whom will also be determined to strengthen this summer.