I think there are 3 major constituent groups that exist around our recruitment now. Each have their own aims and methods and while all have Everton’s interests at heart they do look slightly different. This disagreement is not a problem for me, as long (as we have thus far in getting in 2 good additions) the end results are good.
Walsh clearly looks for obscure talent, seems to want younger players and tries to avoid already established Premier League players. He seems to have good networks in smaller leagues, such as Portugal, France and the Scandanavian countries. His players seem to have youth, physicality, and pace.
At the other end Moshiri seems very keen to grab a Marquee signing. One that can validate his own ownership as the real deal and make the football world sit up. He might hope that such a signing would change some of the ethos of the players and staff at Everton themselves.
Koeman fits a bit between the two. He wants players who are experienced pro’s but still well in their prime years. Players who can make an immediate impact and he can mould into his team quickly.
Each will have reasons for their own perspective. Koeman will want players who are easiest to mould. Walsh will want to utilize his scouting ability and have a longer view, while Moshiri wants to shift the culture of the club more broadly.
Not every signing fits exactly into one of the 3 boxes, some tail the 2. Someone like Idrissa Gueye fits somewhere between Koeman & Walsh. Maybe Strootman or VVD would be between Koeman & Moshiri. While Kessie might be between Walsh & Moshiri. Possibly Mahrez would fit this criteria if we went for him.
It does look to me that we are increasingly moving towards targets that Walsh is heavily involved with. I don’t think this is a bad thing either. There will be tension in the relationship, as there should be. The last thing we want is us sleepwalking into another Niasse situation.
I suspect we will move more towards Walsh’s vision, which is adding lots of young players. This is what I hope happens as well. Esk has put on Twitter how Chelsea have made lots of money from their youth products and smart trading. We need to do the same as well, because of lack of commercial performance.
Lots of clubs are trying to emulate this model. However we do have to advantages. Firstly Walsh is as good at scouting as anyone. Secondly, we are now making a reputation for ourselves as a club who give opportunities over and above any other club. This is what the performance of Davies, Holgate, Lookman and DCL will do for us. Hopefully it will swing it meaning we get the edge over other clubs for young talent.
Take Kessie, a hugely talented player. If we sign him, he gets a chance to play for us for 3-4 years improve, be in a settled team and by the end maybe move on to Manchester City the best in his position in world football. Or Chelsea, no doubt a more illustrious name, but likely having to face time being loaned out and maybe sold to the highest bidder in two years before he may be ready (like De Bruyne/Lukaku). Our pitch is a strong one. We have a good core of young players and you will get a chance in our team. Not just treated as a financial asset.
I do think this goes somewhat against Koeman’s natural judgement. As indicated above, he wants lads who can do a job next week. He is a pragmatist at his core. Yet if he is supplied with players who are better than what he has, he will play them irrespective of age. We’ve seen that with Davies. That the off field staff’s job now. Give him lads under 21 who are ready for the PL. The odd signing like Schneiderlin is a welcome addition just to smooth the process, but we shouldn’t be making 3-4 of them a year going forward as we’ve done this season.
To sum up, to understand Everton’s transfer policy we need to view it through the lens of competing interests and constituency groups. It may look more fragmented from the outside but the ultimate aim is the essential point. Do we add better players? If we get Koeman half a dozen talented lads below 21 and can he mould them to compete for titles? That is the question that will be critical. Keep calm, and expect to see more obscure names next week would be my advise.
