Everton Transfer Window Wrap Up — ToffeeTargets

Written By Ryan Williams

The transfer window has come and gone for Everton. We give a transfer window wrap up for Everton and see what the did great.

Now that the deadline is past us and the PL season has officially started, we thought it was time to take a look back at the summer window and make an assessment of the business Everton did and didn’t do in our transfer window wrap up. As usual, there was passion involving the Everton fan base, but perhaps some have learned their lessons to not believe all the drama concocted by the media.

Marcel Brands has made it pretty obvious over the past couple windows that there are no real ITKs anymore and most of us should just trust the man to get the proper business done. Perhaps if we learned these lessons, we would be a bit more skeptical of crazy bids for Zaha (as SkySports clearly made one up) or silly notions that Everton would pay £25M for Marcos Rojo. But I digress…

…overall, Everton did solid work addressing needs while also filling in gaps due to a few key losses. Marcel Brands did not spend irresponsibly and kept the club with a more sustainable business plan going forward to deal with FFP and prep for the expenses of a beautiful new stadium. We believe the team is improved, but to what extent is debatable. Even ignoring all the silly drama, perhaps there may have been opportunities missed for certain impact players.

Team Needs

Going into the window, Everton needed recruitment in several areas to improve upon its 8th place finish last year. Here is where I believe Everton needed to focus on in the window:

SCORE MORE GOALS. It is uncommon for a team to break into the top 6 without scoring at least 60 goals. Everton were at 54 last season and need to create more chances and goals.

TAKE CARE OF THE BALL. For a team that had decent possession numbers (50.9%) and a somewhat methodical passing approach (below-average passing rate), it’s inexcusable to be 15 thin the league in Balls Lost. It put too much pressure on a defense that was outstanding in open play and could’ve been even better had Everton taken better care of the ball in attack.

ADAPTABILITY / DEPTH. Everton needs more options all over the pitch. The lack of CM/DM options made it very difficult for Silva to play either of his 4–3–3 variants and the lack of attacking options made it tough to have any variability in our approach. That predictability made it difficult to score against defensive-oriented teams that employed certain tactics,

FINANCIAL FLEXIBILITY. The club needs to shed salary. There is too much money being paid to players that provide little benefit. Increases in commercial revenue will help, but it hampers the ability of the club to bring in more talent in the future & puts pressure on to transfer business due to Financial Fair Play. The club has a significant book loss in the past year and only marginal FFP gains the prior year.

Personnel Needs

CF: There are not enough goals or chances coming from the CF spot. Marco Silva was critical of the hold-up play and it’s obvious how it makes it difficult for Everton to play through the middle of the pitch, making the attack more predictable. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is decent in the air and terrific in applying defensive pressure and Cenk Tosun can finish a bit, but a player with more offensive output and ability to score is needed. Niasse is not a realistic option and Sandro Ramirez is more of a second striker or left side midfielder.

LW/RW: Again, there needs to be more chances created from both of these positions and more goals from someone other than Richarlison. Theo Walcott and Richarlison were the biggest culprits in terms of ball retention, so more composure would also be helpful. Everton also lacks a single left-footer in the squad, although Richarlison was effective on the right. The club was also aware that the departure of Ademola Lookman was likely and other candidates to fill the 4 thspot were not likely to help — Mirallas, Bolasie, Bolasie, Sandro, Onyenkuru, etc.

CM: There was a lack of quality and flexibility both in support of the attack and defense. Gana Gueye was likely to leave and Everton had no other real options in the center of the pitch with any degree of athleticism or defensive abilities. Schneiderlin was the only natural 6, yet is on a high salary without commensurate performance and lacks the athleticism to compete against top sides, Tom Davies was inconsistent as a box to box and better suited to spelling Sigurdsson.

Sigurdsson is efficient in his creation and valuable as a player, but is not suited to situations where he needs to hold or control the ball. Andre Gomes was on loan, but essential to the ability to deal with pressure and build-out of the back in possession and spring the fullbacks forward. He also has liabilities as a defensive player in the middle of the pitch, yet hasn’t demonstrated enough creativity to play higher (although I think he has it in his bag personally). There was also no other CM/DM that could realistically pair with Gana to play the twin destroyer variant of Silva’s 4–3–3.

LB: Digne was fantastic and Baines was signed as backup, but having a 3 rdoption in case of emergency wouldn’t hurt.

CB: Zouma/Kean was solid on defense and made a good pair. Everton was excellent in open play defending. The only critique was on set pieces and that the pair were limited in support of the attack. Zouma was 50/50 to return on a permanent basis with Chelsea in a transfer ban.

Yerry Mina was likely not signed to be a backup, but some concerns existed with him pairing with Keane. Mason Holgate returned and while there were promising players in the U23s (Feeney, Gibson), another player was needed.

RB: While Coleman finished the season on a high, Mason Holgate was not an adequate backup and JonJoe Kenny was not a typical inconsistent younger player.

RESULTS

Below is a summary of the player movement with approximate salary and fee impacts in the summer transfer window:

Results Against Team Needs

SCORE MORE GOALS. Successful.

PROS: Moise Kean is an excellent finisher, has power and pace, can create for his teammates, and can help in the areas Everton needs the most. He’s an automatic starter at CF once he’s up to speed and will be an impact player despite his young age. He also has plenty of ceiling to develop into a world class CF. Alex Iwobi is a creative player that could supplant Bernard and push Sigurdsson. Ball playing abilities of Gbamin (JPG from now on) and Mina in the back should help with build-up and Sidibe can be a very effective playmaker from the right side sharing time with Coleman.

CONS: Tosun is still slow for the PL and may not provide goals off the bench. A veteran CF could’ve been brought in on loan to lower the risk that Kean takes longer to adjust to the PL, although the benefit might not be worth the cost. Missed an opportunity to acquire Wilfred Zaha or another more elite goal scoring RW/LW that could add more than Iwobi.

TAKE CARE OF THE BALL. Successful.

PROS: Kean can hold the ball up top capably, Iwobi is composed on the ball. In the midfield, Fabian Delph is an accurate and responsible passer and Gbamin has tremendous passing range and solid dribbling skills. Sidibe is a good decision maker with the ball. Mina is a very good ball playing center back that will have the opportunity to play more.

CONS: Still lack that box to box CM that can both defend and create. Missed out on Doucoure, who could’ve potentially transformed the team, although the cost was high. Missed out on Morgan Sanson who fits the profile, although I had concerns about his physical attributes playing in the PL.

ADAPTABILITY / DEPTH. Successful.

PROS: CF now has a talented all-around player that can score, a good scorer off the bench that can also create a bit, and an exceptional defensive player that is good in the air. RW/LW has 4 players with different profiles and a player in Sidibe that has played RM. CM has competition at all positions and players that can play multiple roles in Delph (CM/DM/LB), Gbamin (DM/CM/CB/RB) as well as LB and RB respectively. LB has Digne/Baines/Delph, RB has Coleman/Sidibe/Holgate/Gbamin.

CONS: Thin at CB as one injury/suspension pushing Holgate into a starting role. Gbamin can play there if needed, but it’s not preferable. As noted above, still didn’t get the left footer Silva wants at RW or the all-around first choice CM.

FINANCIAL FLEXIBILITY. Successful.

PROS: Current net spend is approximately £26M with a salary savings of over £6M a year. It also seems likely that Kevin Mirallas, Oumar Niasse, Cuco Martina, and Yannick Bolasie will all leave, with Bolasie likely to be on loan. Sales will likely bring in no more than £5M, but even if Bolaise leaves on loan for less his salary, the total salary savings of more than £16M is almost equal to the net spend putting Everton at close to a break even point for the year. If a player like Tosun, Schneiderlin, or Walcott were to move, it would be even larger. Either way, Brands will have already alleviated most FFP concerns and created a more sustainable salary base going forward.

CONS: Possibly could’ve gotten more return from certain players. Still haven’t moved everyone out. Obviously, with more expenditure, could’ve gotten more return and Everton is still dealing with irresponsible spending in the past.

OVERALL GRADE: B+

Most needs were addressed and the team is improved. The team is on better financial standing and most moves will benefit Everton well beyond the current season. Everton may have missed some opportunities to gain greater ground on the Top 6 as several teams only improved marginally. The team was clearly willing to spend 50M+ million on Zaha, perhaps a different player than Iwobi would’ve improved the team more.

The team is still thin at CB and there is always risk replacing a player like Idrissa Gana Gueye and a successful CB like Kurt Zouma. Even with the market explosing for certain players and positions — which might have complicated a deal for CB depth, Everton and Marcel Brands didn’t do anything foolish. The bottom line is that Everton got a lot of bang for their buck and the team is improved in the areas it needed improving the most.

As always, make sure you follow us on Twitter @ToffeeTargets for more up to date Everton transfer news.

Also, give me a follow on Twitter @RyanSoccerAA. Love talking about in-depth analysis on players across Europe. Be sure to check out my post on Moise Kean vs. Rafael Leao

Originally published at https://toffeetargets.com on August 12, 2019.