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Football Manager 2024 predicts how the January transfer window could play out for Everton.
It was a challenging summer transfer window for Everton as Sean Dyche looked to strengthen his squad amid ongoing financial issues.
The sales of the likes of Amadou Onana, Ben Godfrey and Lewis Dobbin raised some income for the Toffees boss to spend - but he still had to try and be prudent in his approach as Lyon defender Jake O’Brien, Marseille forward Illiman Ndiaye and Aston Villa midfielder Tim Iroegbunam all moved to Goodison Park at a combined cost of around £35m.
Loan deals were secured for Armando Broja, Jesper Lindstrom and Orel Mangala and veteran goalkeeper Asmir Begovic joined on a free transfer after he left Queens Park Rangers.
The Toffees were always likely to find themselves fighting to preserve their Premier League status and they will hope to use the January transfer window to try and bring a successful end to their battle to remain in the top flight. But how could the window play out for Dyche? We fired up Football Manager 2024, used the editor to get the Everton squad to its present state and allowed the world’s most popular managerial simulation to predict how the Toffees boss could act in the transfer market in the new year.
Outgoings
Although as many as eight current members of the Toffees squad are out of contract at the end of the season, just three were afforded departures during the January transfer window as Dyche looked to raise some much needed funds to refresh his struggling squad. Firstly, Dominic Calvert-Lewin joined Saudi Arabian Pro-League club Al-Hilal in a £29m move and he was joined in the Gulf state by Abdoulaye Doucoure, who joined Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq in an £8m switch.
The final departure actually came on the final day of the window as Watford handed over £1m to complete a deal that saw Ashley Young return to Vicarage Road for the first time since 2007. The only other January departure was a loan deal that saw Beto return to Portugal with Braga until the end of the season - although there will be some income from the move during the summer as the Portuguese club have already agreed a £7.5m permanent deal.
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Incomings
With two strikers out of the door at Goodison Park, Dyche prioritised boosting his forward ranks and his first new frontman came in the form of Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson. The Toffees paid £12m for the England international as he sat in the final six months of his contract at St James Park. A former team-mate of Wilson’s also joined Everton as the Toffees paid £10m to sign Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood.
There were two more new arrivals as Dyche completed a loan deal for Hoffenheim’s young midfielder Tom Bischof before former Arsenal left-back Saed Kolasinac was secured in a £4m deal as he returned to the Premier League from Atalanta.
Nottingham Forest have made a strong start to the 2024/25 Premier League seasonNottingham Forest have made a strong start to the 2024/25 Premier League season
Nottingham Forest have made a strong start to the 2024/25 Premier League season | Getty Images
How did the rest of the season play out?
In short, not well! The Toffees exited the FA Cup at the first hurdle with a 2-0 defeat at Dyche’s former club Burnley and struggled to find any consistency in the league. After spending the vast majority of the season at the wrong end of the table, Dyche’s side found themselves heading into the final week of the season needing four points from their final two games of the campaign. However, a pair of 1-0 defeats against Brentford and Fulham ensured Everton’s long stay in English football’s top tier officially came to an end at Craven Cottage.
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