Sean Dyche has spoken of the difficulties of player recruitment and provided an update on Isaac Price’s future at Everton.
The Blues endured a dreadful end to the January transfer window with numerous attempts to strengthen Dyche’s relegation-threatened squad resulting in failure. The botched recruitment drive led to more anger amongst the club’s fanbase.
Despite promises from the owner, Farhad Moshiri, that Everton would secure a much-needed striker in January, the club ended the window with a weaker squad than when it opened. That came as a result of Anthony Gordon’s transfer to Newcastle United.
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And when asked what he was planning to do to ensure his side doesn't end up being short again, Dyche said: “I am learning about the past, the decisions, the rights and wrongs, ins and outs.
“It is very difficult, for sure, by the way, recruitment. I think over the years we have all seen, not just Everton, clubs in general have put lots of money into a situation and it doesn't always work.
“It is very difficult in general recruitment. I have said many times in the years I have been in the Premier League that the market doesn't care what we think anymore.
“You either pay it or you don’t pay it. We could all probably chat through a certain player and probably come out with a similar view on their worth. Now it is out the window and you just pay what a club wants or don’t pay, so that can be tricky.
“Going forward I think open lines of communication with all the relevant people involved and define the best options we can get.”
The Everton boss then continued on the summer transfer window, saying: “From what I have seen, you say about the priorities, but every situation has to be looked at because we are overloaded in certain areas. So it has to be looked at with that as well.
“Of course striking options, that is plain to see and everybody knows that. But it is just not about striking options, it is about forming a group that can be stronger going forwards.
“I think there is a good group. I said that when I got here. A lot of noise made about strikers and I understand why, and the importance of.
“But at the end of the day, there are some very good footballers here. I wouldn’t go far away from looking at that and how can we adjust that is the ongoing way football works.
“How we can adjust that positively and how we can keep increasing the team's belief and the team capacity in winning games, obviously.”
Meanwhile, Price was included in the Northern Ireland senior squad for the first time ahead of the Euro 2026 qualifiers against San Marino and Finland later this month. However, the youngster is coming towards the end of his contract at Goodison Park, with his deal set to expire in the summer.
First asked about Price's maiden international call-up, Dyche said: “I’ve not really spoken to him. I speak to all the players around the training ground and he put a big shift in last week, physically. He got a bit of a knock but it was nothing serious.
“He’s a good young player. I’m new to the young group, I’ve been to one game and got clips from other games.
“We’re trying to pick up young players as we go. He’s been training with the group quite a lot since I’ve been here and he looks like a good prospect.”
And when asked about the youngster's contract situation, Dyche replied: “Just ongoing discussions because I’m pretty new to it really, here I mean.
“Chatting to the right people at the right time and see how it develops. Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at it more deeply and in more detail. All the players know their situation.”
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