The money that Martinez would get from selling Baines and Fellaini would go a long way in helping him build “his team.” Some of his former Wigan players, James McCarthy and Callum McManaman in particular, are rumored to be joining their former boss at Everton. Martinez will need much more than that if he plans on building for the Champions League. To take the next step, Everton desperately need a striker who can score goals on a consistent basis.
Many of the big-name forwards on the transfer market are well outside of Everton’s price range, but Alvaro Negredo could be a nice fit. He very nearly joined the team in January and would be a major upgrade over Everton’s current forward offerings. The Sevilla striker notched 25 goals in La Liga last year, good enough for fourth in the league, which is particularly impressive considering the three players ahead of him (Messi, Ronaldo and Falcao) are arguably the three best goal scorers in the world.
Champions League qualifying in the EPL is harder than ever. The gap between the top teams and everyone else is growing. Tottenham finished with its highest ever EPL points and still fell short of the “Arsene Wenger Cup.” A bad stretch of form can prove fatal in the chase for a CL spot.
Tottenham dropped too many points down the stretch and Arsenal passed them with a very strong finish. Similarly, Everton started off the 2012/13 in great form, including a win over eventual champions Manchester United, but a rough stretch in the middle of the season saw the Toffees fall out of CL contention and they finished a whole 10 points behind Arsenal. Martinez and Wigan are notorious for coming alive very late into the season and escaping relegation at the very last moment. If Martinez is to keep his promise, he’ll need to treat every game like it’s the last of the season.
A top four finish is a tall task for Martinez and Everton. The Manchester Clubs and Chelsea have a wealth of talent and deep financial resources. Even Arsenal – who seem to magically finish in the top four much the way Wigan had remained out of the bottom three – have money to spend. Tottenham still have Gareth Bale (for now), who almost single-handedly carried the team into the Champions League. Liverpool, with or without Luis Suarez, are full of talented young players. It may take a miracle for Everton to beat out that kind of competition, but Martinez has worked them before.
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