Patrick Boyland and David Ornstein of The Athletic are reporting that James Smith, the Director of Scouting and Development at Manchester City, is set to leave the Sky Blues and join Everton's recruitment board alongside CEO Angus Kinnear, manager David Moyes, and others.
Smith worked with Moyes as the Head of Technical Scouting at Everton during Moyes' first tenure at the club and went to Manchester United with the manager when he left the Toffees in 2013. City have placed Smith on "gardening leave" as they work to restructure their front office as well, having hired Hugo Viana as their new Director of Football.
There was worry among some Everton supporters when Dan Purdy left that the new structure would be too manager-focused and that the club was moving away from having top football minds to recruit players. With Smith coming in, he can step into a similar role that Purdy held and work with Nick Hammond (Head of Trading/Negotiating), who joined from Leeds United, and Chris Howarth (Head of Strategy) to create a cohesive recruitment board.
With the new fiscal year getting set to begin after the calendar turns over to July, it will be paramount that Smith, Moyes, Hammond, Howarth and the rest of their team get started as soon as possible on lining of possible moves the club can make to bolster the squad.
Smith has overseen a juggernaut at City during his time there, so he may be able to carry over relationships built during his tenure, which could benefit Everton in the long run, even if the impact isn't immediately felt.
But with so many players leaving this summer and a good number of positions in the squad to fill, these men will have a big job ahead of them. But the experience of a guy like Smith should help ease Evertonians' minds as the club heads into maybe its biggest summer ever.