OPINION
Everton have confirmed the appointment of Marco Silva as their new manager and the former Watford boss must not waste any time in what is going to be a very busy summer transfer window on the blue half of Merseyside.
Having seen the Toffees struggle to an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League and an embarrassing Europa League campaign that saw them dumped out at the group stages, it is clear that there are players who need shifting out in the coming months.
One player who Silva must bin as soon as possible is Ashley Williams, who is in the final year of his contract and his performances at Goodison Park have been nothing short of laughable.
Williams, 33, was signed in 2016 for £12million from Swansea.
Statistics website Spotrac reports that the Wales international earns £70,000-a-week on his deal, which was fair enough when the Toffees were signing themselves a seasoned professional who had been extremely impressive for the Swans.
However his form on Merseyside has been appalling and his discipline issues were utlimately what saw him axed from the first team by Sam Allardyce at the end of the season.
Allardyce was quoted by the Liverpool Echo as admitting that the defender was unhappy with his decision to axe him after his red card in the 2-1 defeat at Burnley on March 3.
Williams has not played for the Blues since then, and nor should he again if Silva has the sense to get rid of the hapless defender, who was also at the centre of those controversial scenes against Lyon in October when he showed goalkeeper Anthony Lopes into the advertising hoardings and prompted an ugly maul between players and fans.
It may be hard to ship him out to other clubs given his age, form and the fact he is earning a king’s ransom.
However a move to the MLS or somewhere like that could be viable for the former West Brom and Stockport centre-back.