The temperature is rising on Merseyside and it’s not just the heat wave that is finally set to reach these parts next week. Many Evertonians are getting hot under the collar over their club’s lack of spending so far this summer but it might be that they still have to wait a little bit longer for more new faces to arrive.
After large swathes of the rest of the country basked in weather almost 10 degrees higher than we’ve been experiencing, a weather warning for next Sunday, Monday and Tuesday could see the mercury pushing up to 36 degrees Celsius in these parts so it’s to be hoped that long-suffering Blues don’t blow their top as a game of patience could be required for Everton to get the most out of this transfer window.
That’s obviously not the kind of news that fans want to hear, nor manager Frank Lampard, who had been eager to add at least one more new face to his travelling party before his already bumper 32-man squad flew out from John Lennon Airport to Washington DC on Monday, but the way the situation looks like panning out, the Blues could be required to hold their nerve. Strengthening defence and midfield were Lampard’s areas of priority ahead of the new season and the former was thankfully remedied in swift fashion with the acquisition of James Tarkowski, a player that both the manager and new director of football Kevin Thelwell had admired for a long time, being snapped up by mid-June, even though the transfer was not announced until after the centre-back’s contract at Burnley had officially expired.
Beefing up the engine room has so far proven less straightforward and despite talks having taken place with Tottenham Hotspur and the player being keen to make the move, it is understood that an impasse emerged for Harry Winks over an obligation to buy and the 26-year-old’s future currently remains in limbo after he was left out of Antonio Conte’s squad that flew out to South Korea.
Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zivchenko remains a potential alternative for Lampard with the Ukrainian international hankering for both more game time and the chance to play in his more favoured box-to-box role that he fulfils for his country rather than the left-back berth he’s been deployed in by Pep Guardiola.
There’s no guarantee that he will actually depart the Etihad this summer as it’s understood that while Zinchenko is not unhappy to be linked to other clubs, he isn’t desperate to leave either. His future might depend on whether City land Brighton & Hove Albion left-back Marc Cucurella, whose name has been linked with them all summer, but City insiders reckon this one could go down to the last weeks of the window although perhaps ominously for Everton, Arsenal have stepped up their efforts to land him and the player gets on really well with their manager Mikel Arteta who used to be his coach at the Etihad.
Add to this the factor that the Blues now need to fill the huge void created by Richarlison’s departure too. Shortly after the Brazilian completed his move to Tottenham Hotspur, it emerged that Jesse Lingard was being considered as a potential replacement.
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With the England international’s time at Manchester United finally coming to an end, he ticked several boxes for Lampard and represented a proven Premier League performer but rather than flying out to the USA with Everton, the free agent beat them across the Atlantic to “listen to pitches” from Major League Soccer teams and it will be interesting to see what develops on that front now that his former Old Trafford team-mate Wayne Rooney has returned to struggling DC United as head coach.
Perhaps another versatile frontman, of the younger and hungrier ilk that the Blues seemingly need, who has also just headed Stateside may instead provide a solution? Armando Broja wasn’t part of Chelsea’s initial party when they jetted out to the USA but he has now joined up with the group in Los Angeles, ironically after taking the same flight as Raheem Sterling.
The £50million capture of the former Manchester City star presumably pushes Broja, already at best on the fringes of Thomas Tuchel’s squad, down the pecking order. Given that the Londoners feel they’re now in a position to turn their noses up at Cristiano Ronaldo no less, forcing your way into their side remains a daunting prospect.
Tuchel himself told Sky Sports this week that: “Only the very best will do,” words that reflect Everton’s own proud motto but while those at Goodison Park still aspire to such ideals, a large degree of pragmatism and acceptance of current the financial reality is also required. Just because the club have raked in a fee that could reach £60million for Richarlison, it doesn’t mean they can now splash the cash freely.
The Blues have to continue to tread a fine line in terms of Financial Fair Play restrictions – something they acknowledged before Leeds United and Burnley even raised their now dropped complaints over their spending when they revealed they had been consulting the Premier League in regards to all their deals for several years now – but funds are still available for strengthening an under-achieving squad that, even with Richarlison, recorded the joint lowest equivalent points total in the club’s history last season. It is understood that talks are ongoing with Wolverhampton Wanderers over Morgan Gibbs-White, currently with Bruno Lage’s squad in Alicante, but even if the Molineux side are convinced to part with their home-grown talent who graduated through Thelwell’s academy, Everton’s director of football is going to have to hand over in excess of £25million to his former employers to land one of his old protégées.
If the Blues do get a prospective deal of that size over the line then it’s understood there might not be vast amounts left over for further additions as a very different situation to when an Everton side who had qualified for Europe in 2017 were able to spend freely to re-invest the club record £75million they were getting for Romelu Lukaku now exists. This would point to a creative use of the loan system from Thelwell and Lampard – who would be looking to exploit his contacts back at Chelsea.
While Everton are playing Arsenal this weekend in Baltimore before visiting MLS side Minnesota United, Chelsea have a trio of US fixtures ahead against Mexicans Club America in Las Vegas, MLS team Charlotte and Arsenal themselves at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium where the Blues lifted the Florida Cup last year and had been due to face the Gunners. Tuchel will use these matches to run the rule over his options and assess whether Broja will be part of his plans for the coming season.
If not, then the 20-year-old could be back on the market. Although Everton might want to initially look at a loan, like Southampton did last season, the Slough-born Albanian international’s parent club – who farmed out no fewer than 20 players last term – now need to become increasingly wary of this practice that they’ve become masters of in recent years.
New rules restrict clubs to just eight outgoing loans per season now with this figure being reduced to six by 2024/25. Do they cash in on Broja now with the likes of David Moyes’ West Ham United seemingly keen to buy, or send him out again?
At least with Broja having another four years left on his current deal at Stamford Bridge, there could be hope that the likes of him and Conor Gallagher, another prospect on the Blues’ radar who impressed at Crystal Palace in 2021/22, could still end up being lured to Goodison Park on loan in moves which could improve the quality of the squad without breaking the bank. Either way though, Everton face the prospect of having to sit tight for a while yet before finalising their plans because it needs to work as Lampard acknowledged this week, his team must get better to ensure they're not in the same position again that they faced in May.
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