Journalist Greg O’Keeffe has claimed that, ideally, Everton won’t have to back Frank Lampard in the January transfer window.
While this may appear to be a bold stance for the club to take, not spending in January would be a sign that their summer business was good enough to see them through to the end of the season.
However, after back-to-back defeats, including a damning 4-1 loss away to Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup, it certainly highlights the need for reinforcements, as the depth of the squad simply isn’t there as soon as injuries occur.
Speaking prior to their midweek defeat, O’Keeffe insisted on the All Together Now podcast that after speaking to people at the club, the ideal situation would be that Everton were not active in January.
He said: “I think what’s really interesting is how the World Cup’s going to affect the window in January – whether it’s going to put a premium on players or whether it’ll stimulate the market.
“It might mean that there’s some value in there. Whether it’s as simple as Everton looking for potential players through the loan market who they can bring in who’ll make a difference, [that] might be financially more viable.
Will Everton be active in January?
Yes!
No!
“I know from speaking to people, that ideally, they wouldn’t do anything in January, but ideal goes out the window when you see the recent weeks, you only need to think, what if we get beaten by Bournemouth on Saturday?”
TIF Thoughts on Everton’s January business…
Given the fact that Everton have recently been heavily rocked by injuries to the likes of Idrissa Gueye, Amadou Onana and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, it could force the board to at least make some moves in January.
But given their form this season is not too far removed from the previous term, the fact the club potentially see no activity in January as an ideal scenario does strike us as odd.
If Saturday night was an indicator of signings being necessary when they lost to Leicester City, Tuesday’s performance at Bournemouth almost certainly was, and if they head into the winter break having tasted back-to-back defeats against the Cherries, alarm bells may start ringing.
While Lampard has done a solid job to keep Everton in the Premier League and out of the bottom three so far this season, if he isn’t afforded more signings to improve his squad depth, this could turn into a very long campaign at Goodison Park.