Everton have completed the signing of Kevin Mirallas from Olympiakos to add another exciting name to the list of attacking new recruits.
Mirallas, signed for a fee of around £6m on a four year deal and joins Steven Naismith and Steven Pienaar to add some welcomed flair to the Everton squad.
This signing of Mirallas, 24, was admittedly bankrolled by the sale of Jack Rodwell to Manchester City earlier this month, but it is refreshing to see the Blues reinvesting funds received into the playing squad.
Rewind 12 months and the mood around Goodison Park was in stark contrast to the sense of optimism that currently surrounds the club.
The summer of 2011 saw influential playmaker Mikel Arteta head to Arsenal for £10m, top scorer Jermaine Beckford sold for £4m and Yakubu (signed for £11m) headed to Blackburn for £2m.
If my maths is correct then that was £16m recouped via player sales and well in excess of £100k a week off the wage bill.
The Everton faithful had every right to feel aggrieved that only two loan signings had been made in return, Real Madrid’s Royston Drenthe and the unknown Denis Stracqualursi.
What followed was the traditional woeful start to the season and the mood surrounding all involved with the club was one of frustration.
Everton fan group The Blue Union soon organised a peaceful protest before a home game with Aston Villa and the numbers attending the march were well in excess of the 300 reported by certain sections of the media.
Their message was ‘Support the Club, Oppose Stagnation’.
That appeared to be exactly what Everton were doing, stagnating. Raising in excess of £15m through player sales and not investing a single penny of that on a permanent transfer was too much for some fans to take.
Whether you agree with their stance or not, the fact that The Blue Union even felt the need to organise a protest proved that all was not well with The People’s Club.
This was soon confirmed when only 29,561 fans watched Everton’s dismal defeat at the hands of Bolton, the lowest home Premier League attendance in over a decade.
The Toffees squad needed a fresh impetus and the January transfer window couldn’t have come any sooner.
i am greatful that fellainin stayed at the club as i thought he would have been sold, he was brilliant last night and united had no clue how to defend against him,in my opinion he is one of the few players who as put playing for everton above a big wage increase that he would have earned elsewhere, the whole team played for each other and that’s the kind of team spirit other clubs don’t have, clubs like man city have fantastic players but each and everyone of them are there for one thing and that’s the money, it sickens me when i see players kissing the club badge one week and the week after put in a transfer request becuase they want more money, how sad to know that the £50,000 they earn a week is not enough