Do Everton have to sell again before signing new players

As we report this morning Everton have lost out on a young forward they were alledgedly interested in signing as the player has moved to Southampton instead.

This is the latest example of Everton missing out on supposed targets this summer with the news that Jesse Lingard has choosen to join Nottingham Forest, despite the Toffees’ claimed strong interest in him too.

Other players have also slipped through the Blues’ fingers with another alledged target Cheick Doucoure chosing South London and Crystal Palace rather than a move to Merseyside.

We have seen endless stories linking Everton with this footballer or that but nothing concrete ever comes of these reports.

To some extent this is of course something that happens in every transfer window where players are tentatively linked with your club and then end up going elsewhere. But, this time it does feel different.

Obviously, the Toffees’ efforts to recruit are undermined by having so little money after years of disasterous over-spending during the last six years on a succession of managers and underachieving players.

In addition, after a near-catastrophic season last time round, players are also understandably more reluctant to consider a move to Everton.

So, all this puts the club and in particular Kevin Thelwell and Frank Lampard in a very difficult position as they try to strengthen before the new campaign kicks off on August 6th.

It is a truly terrible position for the Blues’ to find themselves in and a damming indictment on years of mismagement and failure.

Despite the sale of Richarlison to Spurs’ and the departure of a number of players who were out of contract, there seems very little cash in the kitty and so thoughts have to turn to who else Everton might have to consider selling this summer.

Rumours of interest in Anthony Gordon surfaced but they have died down and now there seems little chance of him leaving the club.

In fact, other stories said Gordon might even be offered a new deal and reports have also circulated that the Blues’ will do the same with Jordan Pickford, another player who might have been on other clubs radar and would have fetched a big fee were he to be sold.

I’m not saying Everton should sell either of these players. But, as their pitiful performances on the recent pre-season tour to America underline, there is a desperate need for new talent in this squad and seemingly no alternative to raising additional funds to do so.

One story today claims the Toffees’ will now listen to offers for Dele Alli despite only signing the former England international in January.

I thought at the time that this was a strange signing as Everton needed more defensive reinforcements in midfield ready for a relegation battle in the second half of the season.

Alli was also a player who had lost his way at Tottenham and seemed to have a lot of off-field baggage to bring with him. That didn’t appear helpful to a team battling relegation.

Anyway, not unexpectedly he hasn’t been able to recapture the form of a few years go that brought him regular England caps and made him one of the most highly regarded young talents in English football.

Even if this story about selling Alli is correct, in truth who would want to sign him?

He is a player who has badly lost his way and who seems distracted and disinterested in playing, certainly for the Toffees’ anyway. Given all this, I can’t really see any other club taking a punt on him.

Everton never seems to learn and they keep on making the same recruitment mistakes and bringing in players who are either past their best, have lost their way, or lack the right kind of mentality to ultimately make the most of their talent.

Are there any further players in the current squad who might be of interest to other clubs and who would fetch a decent fee?

I can’t think of anyone else other than Dominic Calvert-Lewin or perhaps Yerry Mina.

That defence though will surely need the Colombian -if he can by some miracle stay fit – as the only centre-back who looks solid and reliable at the moment is the one summer signing the club have made so far, James Tarkowski.

Calvert-Lewin would seem the only obvious sellable assest. There were many rumours of him departing Goodison Park but no solid offers have materialised and given his injury problems and poor form over the last calendar year, has he lost much of his transfer value anyway?

The rest of the squad is made up of young and still largely unproven players and underachieving cast-offs from other clubs who have failed to fulfill expectations or were over-rated in the first place. None of these players are likely to attract much serious attention in the market.

So, will Everton have been able to add to the team before that opening day game at Goodison Park against Chelsea? At the moment I can’t see it.

It is a desperate situation and one that if it can’t be remedied will mean another long, hard and depressing season of frustration and failure looms ahead.