Posted by James W. Hollis

One reason for this lengthy drought is that Everton’s transfer policy last year was predicated on youths, loans and free transfers. Don’t be fooled, this wasn’t some reasoned policy decision about the market being overinflated (United). We didn’t choose to stay out of the market as much as we were priced out or undercut each time we showed interest in a player.

That’s one of the problems with David Moyes’ success at picking prospects like Cahill, Arteta, Jagielka and Coleman. Since we don’t have money and other clubs know that, Moyes’s keen eye for young/lower league talent, attracts vultures like ‘arry Redknapp. They stalk Moyes in the transfer market and then offer a higher transfer fee and more wages than we can muster. If you don’t believe me about Harry: see Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton.

Our most recent purchases are John Heitinga, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Sylvain Distin in August/September of 2009. These transfers happened because we splashed some of the  £23-ish million we extorted from City during the sordid Lescott affair. The year before, we bought Marouane Fellaini for something like £15 million on the final day of the transfer window. The Fellaini money was largely derived from the sale of Andy ‘Penalty Shout’ Johnson to Fulham for nearly £11 million. I think we can be assured that Fulham hasn’t had to pay any of the add-ons for accumulated appearances to date.



I’d love to say that I’m not going to have a whinge about not having any money but I suspect I will. I’ve been struggling to come up with material to discuss for my first blog post because there has been nothing going on at Everton this summer. What, have we been left out of silly season because Bill Kenwright bounces too many checks? Instead of silly season, Everton fans all over the world have been treated to a summer of mild depression and ever-growing bitterness. Is this the lot that is left for clubs in the Premier League that aren’t financed by fossil fuel money or, in Roman’s case, by price gouging Poland on heating oil every winter. (See how bitter I’m getting.)

The normal fare for a summer silly season at Everton sees us linked with stupidly expensive players and everyone gets their hopes up. This particular trend has led me to ignore any transfer rumor involving Everton and any team that has more money than us. (Does that mean all transfer rumors now?). Sadly, Everton fans haven’t even had these fantastical stories to keep us from starving this summer. We’ve made two signings. One is supposedly a 14-year-old Polish goalkeeper. I suspect his family has gotten sick of paying for Fernando Torres’ transfer fee every winter. I don’t even know his name. We’ve also ‘snagged’ Eric Dier on loan from Sporting Lisbon.....for the second season running.

In terms of new players, apparently we’re in for Jay Bothroyd on a free! We also showed interest in Charles N’Zogbia until we realized that he wanted to be paid in money. There’s also someone from a club called Derry City who should be a star, and a Northern Irish under-21 international. Those are the extent of Everton’s links this summer.

What’s holding up our transfers this summer, apart from Blue Bill’s stunning paucity of coin? We’ve been trying to sell several players, which I suspect is supposed to be funding Moyes’ transfer fund as it has in years gone by. The first of these players is former vice-captain Joseph Yobo who was scripted to exit quietly stage...um...Turkey. As part of the loan deal we had with Fenerbahce that saw Joe exiled for a year in the place where Brazilian careers go to die, if they wanted his ‘services’ on a permanent basis they would have to pay £6 million this summer. Seemingly, after having had Joe for a year, Fenerbahce decided he’s not worth £6 million despite his prominent role in their title run this year.

The second hold-up is another Nigerian international. Yakubu spent the end of the season perusing the local ‘crops’ at Leicester City with Sven and was supposed to return there this summer. However, according to reports, his desired wages, to be paid exclusively in gift certificates to Nando’s, have turned Sven off at least temporarily. Yakubu is currently with the team in Austria. Whether he’s there as a player or a food-vacuum is anyone’s guess (as is his actual age). Regardless, Yak’s reportedly a really nice guy that smiles all the time. Sadly, at Everton Football Club, we don’t have time for smiles, there’s no smiling when you don’t have enough money for teeth.



Despite the lack of rumors regarding signings at Everton this summer, papers and the internet have been littered with stories linking our best players to other clubs. Baines to City. Baines to Arsenal. Baines to Liverpool. Jagielka to Arsenal. Arteta to somewhere in Spain. Hibbert to Barcelona. Anichebe to Stoke. Rodwell to one of the clubs in/near Manchester. Will any of these deals happen? In a word.....perhaps?

I don’t think Leighton Baines will be leaving. He’s our best player. He knocked back a transfer to Bayern Munich in January and signed a new 5-year deal in June 2010. He’s from Liverpool. He looks like a Beatle. He was left out the World Cup squad because he talked about being homesick if he had to stay in South Africa for 2 months (as if the English would ever be at a World Cup for that long). So, unless he’s going to play for that ghastly red team across the park, which would see me rocking in the fetal position for several days, he’s not going anywhere. Hands off Arsene, he’s too old for you anyway.

I don’t see Phil Jagielka leaving because Gary Cahill is a better bet for Arsenal. He’s younger, he’s taller, he’s less expensive. Arsenal supporters, if you could all send a message saying that to your manager, we at Everton would be most appreciative. Arteta: I don’t care. He had a terrible season last year. If he plays like that again we should take a stack of cash for him, because a stack of cash could hit the first defender on a set piece every time and wouldn’t be on the highest wages at the club. Hibbert to Barcelona is pretty much a done deal. I expect that to happen this week. I hope Anichebe to Stoke, or anywhere else, happens. I’ve said recently that if Stoke has to pay for Anichebe based on his number of missed chances from last year, then they’ll be paying Messi money. He had more cards (3) than he had goals last year (0).

I know that if you’re still reading at this point you’re probably wondering about Jack Rodwell. My opinion on his transfer away hasn’t changed recently. He’s English. One club in Liverpool and one in Manchester have been spending unconscionable sums on underdeveloped English talent this off-season. If a club wants to come buy Jack for more than £20 million, I’ll fly over there and drive him myself. Jack Rodwell is not worth £20 million, nor is Jordan Henderson worth £16 million or Phil Jones worth whatever United paid for him. Not yet at least.



As our past few summers have demonstrated, the only way Everton is going to be able to compete in this market is if we make a fortune off of a transfer. If somebody wants to gamble on Rodwell, go ahead, and thanks for the 4 players it’ll buy us. That’s the biggest problem I see with Everton’s lack of money. Not only do we have to penny-pinch on every transfer and risk having wealthier clubs come over the top and steal the players, everyone we’re dealing with knows that we have no money. So, when they try to buy our players, the lowball us. A good example of this is when West Ham last summer offered less for Yakubu later than they did earlier in the summer. As the summer drags on with no transfers, other teams realize that Everton starts to get desperate for any money and lower their offers accordingly.

I apologize that this turned out to be so long but there is a growing angst amongst Everton supporters. Two summers ago was bad. Last summer was worse. This summer is almost unbearably painful as we are faced with the impending destruction of everything David Moyes has built at Everton during his tenure. We know it’s coming, and without some billionaire sugar-daddy to rescue us, Everton is coming dangerously close to losing the man many supporters see as the club’s Messiah. Will this summer be the last straw for Moyes? Almost certainly. Without investment I fear for the future of our club. We can’t keep playing in a billionaire’s league with a millionaire’s money and expect a good outcome.

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