Transfer statements make bleak reading for Everton fans

Rafa Benitez held his first Everton pre-match presser yesterday and along with team news regarding his squad for today’s match against Southampton he also spoke about transfer business.

His comments make for pretty bleak reading for Everton supporters as Benitez reiterated that the Blues must sell before they can add any new names to the team roster.

So it looks like we’re in for a very different window from the recent past and it will probably end in a scramble on deadline day to get some loan signings in.

This won’t come as a surprise to many but it does further underline just how badly managed the club’s transfer policy has been over the past four or five years.

How has it got to this stage?

When David Moyes left to join Manchester United in 2013 Everton had been consistently competitive and had secured European football regularly, (including their only Champions League appearance) over the previous decade or so.

He’d had very little money in that time but generally spent wisely getting in terrific players like Tim Cahill, Mikel Arteta and Tim Howard for peanuts.

When Roberto Martinez succeeded him at first it seemed what was needed after a period of very defensive and cautious football under the Scot.

He was totally the opposite in his football approach and attitude but he too did add shrewdly bringing in players like Gareth Barry and of course Romelu Lukaku, both arriving first on loan and then signing permanently.

Several very talented young players like John Stones and Ross Barkley had come through as well and the future looked quite bright.

But after that first season when the Blues finished fifth, it all fell apart as his over optimistic commitment to almost kamikaze-like attacking football, misjudgment of European commitments and seeming unwillingness to address defending basics cost the team dearly.