Everton surprised the world of football last summer when they spent big on some quality players. The £50m paid for Gylfi Sigurdsson showed major intent, as did the signings of Jordan Pickford and Michael Keane, both for just under the £30m mark. They didn’t stop there either, with another near £100m spent on the combined purchases of Klaassen, Tosun, Walcott, Vlasic, Onyekuru and Ramirez. Then there was the small matter of Wayne Rooney coming home on a free transfer from Manchester United.
Everton was embroiled in a relegation battle last season
Things were looking up, Everton fans rejoiced. Only sometimes, spending lots of money does not always amount to instant success, as Everton fans realised when their team brought Sam Allardyce in to help them out of a relegation battle part way through the season.
Silva and Richarlison have a good relationship
You might have expected Everton to be more cautious this summer to avoid a repeat. Their first signing under new manager Marco Silva is certainly a bold one, as it involves a 21-year old player from Watford who has played one fairly good season in the Premier League. However, Marco Silva knows all about Richarlison, having worked with him before and he obviously sees huge potential in the young Brazilian winger.
Perhaps buying too many players at one time was the biggest problem at Everton last season, as the team struggled to find a real identity and took time to get used to playing together. Jordan Pickford has returned from the World Cup as England’s new Number 1, having played very well in the tournament. Rooney has moved on to DC United and the general consensus is that the fairytale move to his boyhood club would have been better left as a fairytale, as the reality did not match the dream return he envisioned.
Could this be Everton’s year?
With Marco Silva in charge, this Everton squad could finally give their fans something to cheer about, after going for so long without a trophy or a good run in the league. It is likely that Silva will add a few more signings of his own before the season starts but we will have to wait and see whether the big money signing of Richarlison is money well spent.
