While Everton look to rebuild properly under David Moyes during this summer of 2025, it remains important to check on those names that previously left the club before and during the 2024-25 campaign. There were names that left on free transfers or loan spells that we will not get to in this summary, but those bigger names such as Amadou Onana, Ben Godfrey, Lewis Dobbin and Neal Maupay did make the cut.
How did each of them do across this past season with their new sides, and how does that transfer look with one year’s hindsight?
Amadou Onana & Lewis Dobbin
Sold toAston Villa for €59.35m and €11.8m respectively
Amadou Onana was the biggest name on this list, and one year after being sold to Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, he remains so. While many such as this author did not wish to see him depart Merseyside, there was something inevitable about the switch; between the talent of the player and the position of the club at the time - two relegation battles in a row - many considered last summer to be the perfect time to cash in on a good player who simply wasn’t achieving all that he might be able to with the Blues as they were constructed and managed.
His five goals across all competitions was better than his prior season with Everton, and while he did not accrue any assists, his defensive instincts and presence were more the reason for his transfer than his goalscoring acumen. The player featured in nearly 30 Premier League matches, as well as across cup competitions and the Champions League. The early returns for Villa on the player are modest but assuring, while Everton are likely still happy with the business they managed in moving the player to the Midlands.
Aston Villa v Columbus Crew - Pre-Season Friendly Lewis Dobbin of Aston Villa in action during the pre season friendly between Aston Villa and Columbus Crew
Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images
Lewis Dobbin, meanwhile, never quite hit the mark with Everton. Similar to Ellis Simms, the player seemed to have the talent to succeed on Merseyside, but perhaps not the correct boss and team that might allow the talents of the young man to flourish and thrive; moving him on to Villa was likely the right thing to do, although one does wonder if David Moyes would’ve drawn the same conclusion from Dobbins as Sean Dyche did.
€11.8m for a player of that quality - without the track record of success - is a good return for Everton, and while Villa can afford to let him develop further, they likely will have wanted to see a better first year return than what they did. While at West Bromwich Albion and then Coventry City in the Championship, the 22-year-old managed only two goals between two sides and 29 appearances; for the Blues, that will sound a lot like business well accomplished. It, however, remains to be seen what Villa think.
BSC Young Boys v Atalanta BC - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD5 Ben Godfrey of Atalanta celebrates victory as he acknowledges the fans after the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD5 match between BSC Young Boys and Atalanta BC
Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images
Ben Godfrey
Sold to Atalanta for €12.5m
When Ben Godfrey was first signed by Everton years ago in 2020, the player was thought to be a great, young player that would be able to play central defense as well as a fullback. After countless injuries, numerous different bosses and styles and time in and out of the club’s rotation, Ben Godfrey was moved onto Atalanta in Serie A for just a bit over €12m; how did he do over in Italy?
Not so well. He, in fact, spent very little time playing for Atalanta, and would find himself back in the Premier League - also not playing very much - in short succession. Playing just ten times across all competitions for two different teams across two different nations was not a great showing for the player, and was certainly an embarrassing situation for both Atalanta and eventually Ipswich Town.
For Everton, meanwhile, it was a good bit of business that probably shouldn’t have been doable given the returns the Blues had received from Godfrey over the prior seasons in England; C’est la vie.
AS Monaco v Olympique de Marseille - Ligue 1 McDonald’s Neal Maupay of Marseille following the Ligue 1 football match between AS Monaco (ASM) and Olympique de Marseille (OM)
Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Neal Maupay
Loaned to Marseilles for €500k; sold to Marseilles this offseason for €4m
And finally we come to Neal Maupay. The striker that never quite functioned like a striker for Everton did, indeed, function like one at previous stops like Brighton, as well as at future stops like Brentford. For the club that paid €500k in loan fees for the Frenchman, the player once again demonstrated that he could play and contribute positively to a team - just not for Everton.
On the back of an eight goal, three assist spell at Brentford in the second half of 2023-24, Maupay bagged four goals and four assists for Marseilles, enough for them to spend another €4m on the player this summer.
It was ultimately a win-win for all sides concerned. Everton could get nothing out of Maupay, while Maupay could not be effective with Everton. Removing each from each was seemingly the right fit for everyone, and for that, there can be no remorse to be sure.