"One of the first things you recognise about the club is that the club is really involved in the area."
Brands says every player gives up some of their weekly wage to Everton in the Community
“Andre Gomes, he came from Barcelona, and we asked him in the first month to do some activities for EitC and he picked it up straight away. He's a fantastic player but it's also why the fans love him... He stole the hearts of the fans in just a couple of weeks."
Brands on his move to being a director of football: "It was not planned. At 35 I quit playing but in the last seven years I picked up a lot of studying to prepare for my life after my career - but not in football. In my last year I started working in a bank."
Brands on role models for being a DoF: "There are a few people who have had a big influence in my career. On the football side, I met quite early in my career Txiki Begiristain.”
"One of the most important aspects of my job is to not get too emotional."
Brands on changes he's made at Everton: "My first focus was the transfer window. We had 38 players so the squad was far too big and we had to bring in some new players in positions we felt we had to improve."
Brands highlighting the change he's brought to Everton's director of football role: "The guy before me was really involved in recruitment. I am involved in all departments."
Brands on working with Silva: "Our offices are across from each other at Finch Farm. We are in contact everyday."
Brands on signing players with Silva: "We both have to agree."
Brands now talking about transfer plans and confirms the targets for the summer are already agreed upon.
Brands: "All the players we brought into the club in the summer we under 25. We don't want to invest big money in older players... We are looking at players aged 20-25/26.”
Brands confirms he also travelled to Chile in January to watch the u-20 South American championships
