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Everton wait until January on Brands contract

By Matt Townsend

BURNLEY, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 26: Everton Sporting Director Marcel Brands looks on from the grandstand during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Everton FC at Turf Moor on December 26, 2018 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
BURNLEY, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 26: Everton Sporting Director Marcel Brands looks on from the grandstand during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Everton FC at Turf Moor on December 26, 2018 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images) /
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According to the Liverpool Echo, Everton are set to wait until the new year before opening talks with Marcel Brands about an extension to his contract.

The Dutchman has been Director of Football at Everton since joining the club from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2018.

Brands has had a mixed time at Goodison Park and has been subject to criticism especially for some of the signings he has made.

In particular bringing in young, still unproven players like Moise Kean for big money hadn’t proved to be a very successful strategy, at least not yet.

However, the club still seemed to have lots of faith in him and he was promoted to the board at the beginning of the year.

Going into this summer’s transfer window, the Dutchman was though under some pressure to deliver players who could substantially improve the Toffees team immediately, not just in a few years time.

Brands had a new manager to work with as well after Carlo Ancelotti had replaced Marco Silva in December when a poor run of results had culminated in a disastrous derby defeat at Anfield.

After an initial improvement in results, things had gone backwards again after the re-start of the Premier League season leaving the Blues to finish in 12th place.

It was obvious that Ancelotti would want immediate reinforcements who could radically improve the side’s performance in the upcoming season.

As the transfer window opened there were new financial pressures due to Financial Fair Play and then the Covid crisis.

There were also unsubstantiated rumours that there were disagreements between the two men over potential targets with Ancelotti wanting experienced players who could deliver improvements now and Brands still keen to focus on youth.

I don’t know if any of these stories were true but at any rate it did seem that Ancelotti was getting his players in as the Toffees signed Allan, James Rodriguez and Abdoulaye Doucoure in quick succession during the summer.

Rodriguez was the most spectacular deal of all as the Colombian star agreed to swap Madrid for Merseyside and a chance to be reunited with ‘the professor’ Ancelotti.

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While Ancelotti was rightly lauded for his obvious influence and man-management skills in persuading these players to join Everton, Brands work behind the scenes was just as important in securing these deals.

This was particularly the case regarding Rodriguez. Brands seemed to have pulled off a massive coup persuading Real Madrid to let him leave for a nominal fee or even according to some reports, for no fee at all.

Brands has certainly then played his part in the superb summer transfer window that the Blues have enjoyed. That transfer window paved the way for the excellent start to the new season that Everton have so far enjoyed.

So with all that I would imagine he will have his contract extended in January. Hopefully he can continue to deliver the sorts of deals we saw this summer.

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