Everton can be a major player again… but don’t expect our values to change

Everton are back in the game.

The day supporters had longed for has finally arrived. Fresh investment. The chance to make Everton great again. A real force in English football. An opportunity to talk about the here and now rather than our incredible history and tradition. The times, they are a-changin’.

We can be main players. Farhad Moshiri’s purchase of 49.9 per cent of the Football Club can put us back among the elite. Finally, we can put plans in place and follow them through. No more pipe dreams. It is a truly exciting time for Everton and its loyal fans.

However, we will not be the next Manchester City or Chelsea. We must still do things the ‘Everton way’ to be a success.

The fresh investment does not mean Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will be at Finch Farm holding up the royal blue shirt next summer. However, it does allow us to compete at the very top.

The shackles that have held the club back are off. Standards can now be raised and the mediocrity of the last two decades will hopefully become a distant memory.

Names we’ve missed out on in the past will now sign on the dotted line. There will be no more near misses or reasons to curse our lack of resources.

This fresh investment will be used to take club to the next level – the top level – while carrying on with everything we are good at.

Of course rivals will continue to improve and invest but we will now keep up. It’s an even playing field.

However, we won’t sell our soul.

Fans split down the middle over the running of the club – despite being desperate to achieve the same goal – have been brought together with the new set-up pleasing both camps.

Those always content with an Evertonian at the helm despite his lack of capital are pleased Bill Kenwright will stay on while the supporters desperate for that much-needed cash boost have also got their wish.

With the new set-up, Everton will remain Everton. Not a play-thing for a foreign entrepeuner. Moshiri is on board and will work together with Kenwright to achieve success.

For that reason, Evertonians can be optimistic. There is no need to be pessimistic.

The tradition and heritage of the football club is too important to lose. It is what makes Everton. The core will not be ripped out as we have seen elsewhere.

We have challenged on a shoestring budget for a decade now but, thanks to added investment, Everton can now achieve its goals.

In a position to turn down a £38million bid for John Stones last year, Everton will be in an ever stronger position this summer.

Rumours already suggest Romelu Lukaku and Stones will agitate for a move when the Toffees fail to qualify for the Champions League this term.

However, Moshiri’s investment strengthens the club’s hand. It is Everton who decides who stays and goes. The club will not be held to ransom as they have been in the past. If rivals aren’t keen to stump up the desired amount, it makes no difference to Everton. As Roberto Martinez proved during the Chelsea debale, ‘not for sale’ means not for sale, and even more so now.

Contracts will be dished out. Ambition and belief will grow. The media will at last discuss the players coming to Everton rather than those expected to leave.

Lauded for the number of top quality players we have nurtured over the years, Everton must also continue to invest in the Academy to ensure it becomes the best place to be for the next generation of talent in the game.

While news of a billionaire coming into Goodison Park and vowing to spend has seen fans drawing up wishlists of the star players they want to see on Merseyside, Everton will not be going on a mad shopping dash throwing money at names.

A group of extrememly gifted individuals are next to come off the Toffees conveyor belt and will not be halted by mega-money signings. Nor should they be. Instead, let’s hope the youngsters are complimented by a splattering of ready-made quality players from elsewhere.

The stadium issue which has blighted the club’s progress is also on the agenda. Whether Goodison Park is improved and renovated or Everton move to a new site, the club now seemingly has a solution to a long-standing problem.

Everton were never in a mess or the doldrums but just needed that little helping hand, that boost. And at last they have found it. In a reasonably healthy position, Moshiri’s arrival is a new lease of life.

The Blues must conduct their business as they always have. They must remain shrewd and savvy. They must invest in youth. The values and tradition must stay the same.

Everything is looking positive and the future is bright. The future is surely blue.

We are finally in a position to achieve but we must and will do it the ‘Everton way’.