The future of Everton Director of Football Marcel Brands is uncertain with his contract due to run out in May and no extension yet agreed. So what impact might this have on the Toffees transfer strategy going forward?
Brands arrival two and a half years ago was a considerable coup for the Blues as the Dutchman was one of the most highly regarded Football Directors in Europe.
He was brought in by Farhad Moshiri to replace Steve Walsh who hadn’t proved able to replicate the kind of signings he made that had delivered that most unexpected Premier League title triumph for Leicester City in 2016.
His replacement, the former PSV Eindhoven executive, was also supposed to revamp the club’s overall strategy and put in place long-term plans to improve the scouting and youth teams further, especially as he had a good reputation for finding and bringing talented young players from South American countries in particular.
His signings at Everton though have been a bit of a mixed bag. Some of them like Lucas Digne have been a success while others such as Yerry Mina have been much less convincing although Mina’s form has been better recently. Getting players from a club like Barcelona was however seen as confirmation of Brands’ influence and profile in European football.
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Others such Moise Kean haven’t worked out, at least so far. Kean hasn’t settled in England and has found it tough to get any regular football with issues over discipline and his own erratic form. He’s now gone out on loan and it seems increasingly unlikely he will return to Goodison Park at the end of the season.
This past summer transfer window also appeared to reveal a difference in strategy between Brands and Carlo Ancelotti. The Blues Italian manager wanted to bring in more established, experienced players rather than taking a punt on younger or less well-known talent that may or may not develop fully.
There were a few rumours bubbling along that the two were in disagreement over transfer priorities, although I don’t think there was anything in this.
However, Everton eventually signed the three experienced players Ancelotti most wanted: Allan, James Rodriguez and Abdoulaye Doucoure. So it seemed that Ancelotti had got his way, which is not surprising given how much it cost the club to bring him in!
The Blues boss showed he isn’t only interested in players in their late twenties or older though when he made signing young defender Ben Godfrey a priority on deadline day.
To be fair, Brands did play a very considerable part in negotiating these deals and that seemed to cement his place in the club hierarchy alongside the high-profile coach.
So far though Everton haven’t extended Brands contract. If the club don’t give the Dutchman a new deal beyond May (which seems unlikely to me) then it would appear that they have decided to put all their faith in the judgement of Ancelotti.
This month Brands has said that he doesn’t think the Toffees will add to their ranks and the only business appears as though it will be outgoings, even though there are several areas of the team that certainly need improving.
Whatever decision is reached this needs to be resolved quickly so that the Blues can properly plan and prepare for what will probably be another important period of transfer activity in the summer.