Everton journalist Christopher Beesley has been speaking on the latest episode of the Royal Blue podcast about how the Toffees have to get players out of the club this summer.
Over the last four seasons, Everton have not been shy to splash the cash, with £448.98 million being spent across the previous four seasons (figures as per Transfermarkt), although they have no trophies or European football to show for it.
Will Benitez succeed at Everton?
Yes!
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During that time, Everton have not done a great job of bringing money into the club, with their biggest sale being Romelu Lukaku for £76.23 million but after that, it’s Idrissa Gueye’s transfer to Paris Saint-Germain for £27 million, which suggests they have not had great success when it comes to player sales – or smart recruitment in general.
Certain players that have not been near the first-team picture regularly could be moved on, as Beesley discussed on Royal Blue.
He said: “I think whether it’s Financial Fair Play and the need to actually get players off the books – whether you’re required to do that by law, or just by sheer practicality – I think that’s always going to be a big thing at Everton this summer.
“The bloated squad and the number of big earners who aren’t necessarily at the forefront of the plans, whether that was going to be like [that] under Carlo Ancelotti or the new manager.
“There’s a clear consensus on the areas that do need strengthening first, the right wing seems to be priority number one, you would think.”
TIF Thoughts on Everton’s need to sell players…
Everton have a host of players who are earning too much to not be near the first team, such as Fabian Delph, Bernard and Cenk Tosun – who are earning a combined total of £260,000 per week but only managed five Premier League starts between them last season.
So getting rid of these players and recruiting wisely for less is perhaps the way forward for Everton, as their previous approach has clearly not worked out – but it remains to be seen whether Rafael Benitez will bring about a strategy change in this area or if he will revert to type when given access to Farhad Moshiri’s millions.