Date: 2nd July 2019 at 12:19pm
Written by:

Everton are looking set to have another busy transfer window this summer, having already acquired Euro 2016 winner Andre Gomes from Barcelona for a reported fee of around £22m. Everton fans will be buoyed by this signing, praying that it is just the sign of things to come in the near future.

With Everton signing players who would break into the starting eleven of sides above them in the table, such as Gomes, and having players at the club such France left-back Lucas Digne and Richarlison, who is now a starter for the Brazilian national team, it would not be too foolish to suggest that they are a side who can have realistic ambitions of gatecrashing the top six-party.

This has never been more likely in the upcoming 2019/20 season with the uncertainty that lies within the clubs who finished above them. Chelsea have lost their best, and arguably the league’s best, player in Eden Hazard. The task to replace the Belgian star would be hard enough if they did not already have with them a transfer ban. This is not ideal for Chelsea, even if they had a stable first team set up- which they do not. The inexperienced Frank Lampard’s arrival brings with it a lot of fresh ideas from a legend of the club who achieved the status quo at Derby, as he managed to lead club who have finished in the playoffs in three out the last five seasons, to sixth place in the table.

Manchester United are in a similarly tricky situation. Having experienced an amazing new manager ‘bounce’ under Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer, they have been lead to their worst run of form in 52 years. The lack of stability at the club is coupled with key players such as Pogba batting his eyelashes at any elite club that looks his way. Solskjaer needs to forget about his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson and create his own stamp on the club, as the club are spending big money on unproven talent. Dan James joins the Red Devils after scoring four goals in 32 games for Swansea in the Championship, whilst Sean Longstaff is rumoured to be joining United after just nine league games for Newcastle. These signings will not bring fear into the clubs surrounding United and will provide hope for those chasing European spots below in the table.

Arsenal’s situation is not much better. Although Unai Emery did a good job getting their defence anywhere near competing for the top four positions, they do not have the transfer kitty to seriously improve the squad. With Kieran Tierney, who is a good left-back, rumoured to be joining the club for over half their transfer budget, it seems a tall order for the club to seriously address the problems they have in defence.

Everton should be looking at the clubs above them and believe this is their real chance to make an impression on those who regularly finish above them. A club who has been spending big with little reward so far, Marco Silva has a real opportunity to storm into the top 6 and not leave for some time.

 

Comments are closed.