It’s done and Rafa Benitez is the manager of Everton FC. So now we need to look forward to the work required in the summer transfer window and then the new Premier League season.
One key question is can Benitez get a better and more productive tune out of the many underperfoming Everton players he has inherited, and if so will that save the club some serious money in the transfer market?
So many of these current players let previous managers and the supporters down and it’s tempting to just say get rid and start again almost from scratch but let’s face it that’s not possible.
So although I’m sure several players will be leaving this summer, I don’t see the Toffees splashing out huge sums and so Benitez is probably going to have to get more effort and productivity out of some of those left behind if he’s going to improve the Blues results next season.
We’ve looked at how Benitez’s style and approach might pan out particularly based on his results at Newcastle United when he was managing the Magpies.
One of the key issues he faced on Tyneside was the lack of funds to strengthen his squad and so he had to get the absolute maximum out of his existing squad. This was something he emphatically did and I think it’s a major reason why he’s been given the Everton job.
Because it’s very unclear how much money the Toffees will be prepared to spend this summer. I’ve said before that I think the club should go out and spend even if that means breaching FFP rules.
Other clubs have done it and given the shameless way the so-called ‘big six’ in England treat all these rules and regulations and the football authorities themselves, Everton should just spend the money they want and need to and see what happens.
But if that doesn’t happen – and I don’t think the Blues board will go about things that way – then to spend big Benitez will need to sell an asset or two. The only ones that would fetch a significant fee would be Richarlison, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lucas Digne. Although given his Euro’s performances Jordan Pickford might be in demand as well.
Now letting any of those players go would be controversial and given how little room for manouvre Benitez has with the fans, it would be a major decision to sell one or other of them.
However, Richarlison was a shadow of himself last season and to be honest I’m not sure of his commitment to the Blues, as his past comments have indicated. If a club put £50 million or more on the table I think it has to be considered.
Calvert-Lewin had a fine season overall although his goal productivity fell away markedly after a great start and he still doesn’t convince that he is a genuine out-and-out goalscorer. If another club came in with an huge bid would and should that be tempting?
Digne has recently signed a new contract and seems happy at Goodison Park. But I feel in a way he’s almost too comfortable in this team and last season there were times when it appeared he was coasting along knowing he was under no pressure for his place.
Maybe the hands-off approach of Carlo Ancelotti didn’t help but while I don’t want him to leave, we need to see a much more energetic and determined Digne next season.
Or he might decide not to sell any of his better players and while he will obviously want some new signings (Lionel Messi on a free?!) he should also be ready and able to work with the existing squad and get the absolute most out of those footballers, as he has done wherever he has previously managed.
After all apart from Newcastle’s very ordinary team that he coaxed to the Championship and several mid-table finishes, look at that Liverpool team he won the Champions League with!
There are some players I think should be shipped out in particular Bernard, Moise Kean, Cenk Tosun, and Gylfi Sigurdsson. And there are three others who I would consider for the exit door if decent money came in for them; Mason Holgate, Andre Gomes and Alex Iwobi. But they might be players Benitez thinks he can significantly improve.
Holgate was a disaster in the run-in to last season’s conclusion. He had some terrible games particularly that awful performance against Aston Villa.
The Everton youth team product had shown some promise in recent campaigns and hinted that perhaps he could become a genuine Premier League calibre defender. But he went backwards again last season and seems to have real problems combining his obvious physical ability with a mature head and adequate football intelligence. Can Benitez find the key to reviving his career?
Gomes has been a pale shadow of the player who had been in fitful decline for a while and who had also never been the same since his injury against Tottenham in November 2019.
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It may not be possible for anyone to revive the Portuguese, but as I’ve previously suggested perhaps he can thrive again playing that deeper midfield role alongside a ball-winning dynamo as he did for a time with Idrissa Gueye. That role would also fit as Benitez has often used a 4-2-3-1 formation.
The other big question is Iwobi. I know many Evertonians have had enough of him and I would agree it’s hard not to want shot of him, after all it’s not as if he hasn’t had plenty of chances! But is it possible Benitez can find a way to get something out of the ex-Arsenal youth product?
Iwobi has talent, he’s powerfully built and possesses the ability to carry the ball directly from midfield and commit defenders, which is something that Everton desperately need as an attacking option. Rumours of signing Matheus Nunes continue so perhaps he will solve this issue.
There were a few moments last season when Iwobi appeared to be finding his feet at last, especially when he was playing as a wing-back on the right hand side.
However, he’s so often flattered to deceive that it seems unlikely he will ever be a decent player for the Blues. The problem is who is going to pay anything close to the £30 million odd the Toffees forked out for him in 2019?
Well these are all tough questions and decisions for the new manager to deal with. But if he can’t spend big this summer then he may have no choice but to try and get much more out of some of the existing players in his squad. Given how often they have let down his predecessors, that will be some achievement!