So that’s it, the transfer window madness is almost over for a few months and I figured I’d compile a summary of our incoming and outgoing business and attempt to contribute something constructive to the forum for the first time in about 6 years. Slightly dangerous with 40 minutes left to go and the cloud of Rojo lurking but anyway...
It’s a horrendously long post so bail out now if you don’t want to die of boredom, or at the very least delete your questionable internet history before you buckle in for this in case you don’t make it to the end.
So first the outgoings;
James McCarthy – Sadly injuries resulted in his Everton career stalling a long time ago and despite a promising first season we never really saw much else from him. If he can get a run of games at Palace and stay injury free (Can’t see that myself) I think he can still do a decent job for them, however we’ve moved on in quality in that position and getting him out and getting an actual fee for him has been decent business.
Idrissa Gueye – This is obviously the biggest outgoing of the summer for us and whilst I’m sad to see him go I’m confident that we’ll be alright without him. Maybe I’m underplaying his impact but I just don’t see it as a disaster and wish him well at PSG. He’s a great example as to how to get a move without being a complete knob ala Lukaku, he kept quiet for the most part and had a good second half of the season so I can’t fault him.
Joe Williams – As with Robinson he’s off to Wigan, I saw rumours that he’d be in and around the squad this season and I’m sure he was touted as a decent prospect so I was slightly surprised to see him go. Good luck to him, looks like he’s been here since he was about 8/9 yrs old so it’s a big change
Nikola Vlasic – Finalised a deal to CSKA after a successful loan, it just never really worked for him here. I was a fan of his and thought he’d go on to be fairly decent but I’ve got an inkling that he’d have spouted off loads if we kept him and he wasn’t getting games so it’s probably best for us and his future development that he went.
Ademola Lookman – Similar to Vlasic really, not particularly sad to see him go and he doesn’t appear to have wanted to be here since his first loan spell at Leipzig. It’ll be interesting to see if he develops into a top player but indications are that he needs to adjust his attitude a little and put in more consistent effort if he’s to achieve anything other than a mediocre career.
Ashley Williams - Appears to have gone through a 2 year gestation period but still no new arrival. I’m quite glad to see the back of him having originally been pleased with his signing and thinking he did alright in his first season. His form dropped off a cliff after that and he barely resembled a footballer by the time we shifted him.
Brendan Galloway – Off to Luton for free and I think it’ll be a good move for him. I always remember him having a good spell when he filled in at Left Back and thought he’d go on to prove a decent CB for us. It hasn’t happened and I’m glad to see him get a permanent deal elsewhere so that he can move on with his career as he seems a genuinely nice lad.
Sandro Ramirez – What a disappointment he’s turned out to be, all the excitement when he was first linked and it’s all come to nothing. Another loan back to Spain and hopefully they’ll make it permanent next year, although I suspect he’ll be terrible again and we’ll struggle to rid ourselves of him until his contract expires.
Jonjoe Kenny – Followed in the recent footsteps of a number of young English players and chosen Germany to try and develop at Schalke. I think it’s make or break for him as far as his Everton career goes, we’ll either get a right back that can succeed Coleman for years to come or we shift him permanently next summer. I’d like to see him succeed but I guess we’ll have a better indication as to how likely that is in a few months.
Kieran Dowell – Off to Derby on another loan, I’ll be honest I just don’t think he’ll make it here and think the Championship is probably his level. If he can get some consistency then he might prove me wrong but I can’t see anything other than another season floating in and out of games and flashes of brilliance and then binned off by Everton at the end of the season.
Joao Virginia – Supposedly highly rated at Arsenal but don’t know a great deal about him, hopefully gets some games at Reading but unlikely we’ll see him pushing for a starting place for a couple of years. We must surely be running out of room in the scrapyard where we keep youth goalkeepers?
Korede Adedoyin – Off to Hamilton on loan, I know nothing about him other than he’s a forward, however if he can kick a football I suspect he’ll score about 80 goals this season in the tin pot league that is the SPL.
Luke Garbutt – Another loan for Garbutt, this time to Ipswich. I think it’s the last year on his contract so I would imagine it’s the last we’ll see of him and he’ll find a permanent deal elsewhere on a free for the 20/21 season.
Antonee Robinson – Apparently a reasonably talented player but never really seen much of him and he wasn’t going to get first team opportunities with the god that is Digne nailing down LB and Baines signing a contract extension. Wigan have chosen to make the loan move a permanent so they’ve seen something in him.
Phil Jagielka – He holds a special place in my heart but it’s definitely the right time to go and I’m glad it’s back to Sheff Utd so he can continue to play in this league. I think he’ll do surprisingly well and wish him all the best. I was gutted for him when he missed the FA Cup Final but seeing him smash that penalty against Man Utd and the strike against Liverpool are good memories for me.
Nathan Broadhead – He’s off to Burton on loan and looked pretty lively in pre-season, a loan is definitely the best option for him at this stage as he’ll be well down the pecking order but one to keep an eye on.
There’s a few others gone, mostly out of contract (Sambou, Hewelt, Charsley etc) plus Bowler going out on loan to Hull so hopefully we’ll see a bit of him this season.
New signings;
Andre Gomes – Good lord what a handsome chap he is, I mean irrespective of whether he can play football or not I’d have been happy for us to spend £22m just to make sure he stayed in the country. I long for a fan competition where the prize is to rub baby oil into his thighs, I’ve written to club with some suggestions but no reply as yet. Erm, anyway, so he’s a very good footballer and he seems to love the club so it seemed logical the loan would become permanent and this was tied up nice and early and I can only see him getting better.
Jonas Lossl – I assumed his arrival would signal the end of Stek but apparently not yet, came in on a free and has experience in this league, not a spectacular signing but we just need someone to come in on the odd occasion when Pickford has been sparked out in a Newcastle nightclub.
Fabian Delph – Again this isn’t a spectacular signing but I think it’s a sensible one. He adds good experience in an area where we were looking to shift a number of players. His versatility could be useful and I’m hoping being around a winning Man City squad for a few years will mean he has a bit more bottle than some of our squad. His injuries are the big concern and he’s already picked up one that’ll keep him out for 3 weeks. Let’s hope he can stay fit long enough to do a job when called upon.
Jean-Philippe Gbamin – Another player that came out of nowhere and I know very little about. Seems to be different views on his best position with some suggesting he’ll be better at CB. The man himself has said he’s a midfielder so that’s where I assume we’ve brought him to play but it’ll be useful if he can cover CB if we get desperate. Based on absolutely nothing but my gut instinct I think he’s going to do well for us.
Moise Kean – Every young black man with dreads breathed a sigh of relief once this was announced and the amateur Evertonian paparazzi left them alone. This is by far the most exciting signing of the summer for me and in today’s crazy market it seems a bit of a bargain. He’s touted as a world class talent and having seen the glimpses of him training the other day it doesn’t look like he’s lacking in confidence. I imagine it’ll be a few weeks before we unleash him fully but I’m excited to see if he can reach the level that so many people think he can.
Djibril Sidibe – This is a sensible signing, good cover for right back and could potentially be good enough if he regains form to displace Coleman. If he does well then apparently it won’t break the bank to make it permanent next season and we’ve then got a player integrated into the squad already if JJK doesn’t come back in after his loan. Not much to lose on this one.
The Zaha deal never happened in the end, I was never a fan of us spending the money they were asking for him so I can’t say I’m hugely disappointed. I think I started to come round to the idea more out of desperation for a winger as opposed to wanting Zaha.
Overall it’s been an alright window, it could have been better with a quality CB and winger added but it’s by no means the disaster that some would have us believe. It was always going to take a few transfer windows to overhaul this squad so we just need to remain patient, I’d rather not throw loads of money about making panic buys just for the sake of spending money. I trust Brands to get it sorted and whilst he’s done some good business he isn’t infallible.
I appreciate it’s frustrating and some people feel we’ve now missed the boat in trying to catch the clubs above us but I think we’ll be alright and once the dust settles on this window and games get underway hopefully people will start to calm down.
Still potential to find some mugs in Europe to buy/loan the likes of Tosun, Niasse, Bolasie, Besic but realistically we were never going to shift them all in this window. We’re still trying to tidy up the mess Martinez/Koeman/Allardyce collectively got us into before we had a clear direction.
So anyway, we can concentrate on the football now and hopefully the new players gel and we get off to a good start, with our opening fixtures we’ve got the chance to build some momentum and get a good number of points in the early stages. See you all in 4 weeks when we’re on 1 point then.
