Since the death of The First Division and its rebirth as The Premier League, English football has been invaded by money. The turn of the century has seen some of the country’s biggest football teams change hands. On the face of it, there’s nothing new here. Football clubs’ ownership has always been an eventual temporary one. The difference now is wealth.
Roman Abramovich’s takeover of Chelsea in 2003, Opened the floodgates to the super-rich. With Newcastle United's recent takeover marking, the most recent in a long line of multimillion-pound purchases. Everton are one of these clubs seemingly fortunate enough to receive one of these hallowed takeovers. Though the team’s achievements dwindle compared to their competitors and money seems to be wasted rather than invested.
Over the past five seasons, the club has spent a staggering 275 million pounds on transfers. With their gross spend nearing a dizzying figure of 550 million. This amount of money puts them firmly amongst the league spending giants, as only Chelsea, Man United, and Man City have spent more. Though little would expect this after a glance at The Toffees recent league finishes, their last five seasons have only produced two top-eight results.
The mystery of Everton’s failure seems even harder to fathom when turning your eye to training ground and academy. The club’s training ground ‘Finch Farm’ is hugely impressive, and the owners plan to spend even more here with work set to start soon on vast improvement. Everton’s academy is one of the best in the country and has seen some incredible footballers walk through its doors with Wayne Rooney, just one example from the club’s illustrious list. Recently Tom Davies, a frequent starter for Everton, has graduated from the academy and impressed in the Premier League. Clearly then it’s not the training ground or the academy that can be blamed for Everton’s lack of success.
The culprit for the Toffees’ devastating results is their erratic transfer policy. Huge money is regularly spent on players who never truly reach the level of the club’s ambition. Moise Keene, for example, was bought by the club in the summer of 2019 for nearly 25 million pounds. Only a season later, Keene was loaned out to PSG, and since his return to the club has barely played a game.
Despite my criticism, competing with the leagues-best is an incredible challenge. The likes of Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea are run impeccably and their transfer policies only mirror this. Everton must adapt, however, if they want to succeed, and their fans certainly won’t stand for mediocre results for much longer.
Author: Will Heason