Everton endured a difficult period when Rafa Benitez was manager.
Carlo Ancelotti had just left for Real Madrid and in came Rafa Benitez, who wasn’t a popular appointment due to his Liverpool connections.
Benitez joined during a time when PSR restrictions were in place, so he was given a very limited transfer budget in the 2021 summer transfer window.
And, one of his signings has now revealed that no one behind the scenes at Everton actually wanted him to join.
Andros Townsend.
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Andros Townsend said no one at Everton wanted him apart from Rafa Benitez
Speaking to the Ripple Effect podcast with James Lawrence Allcott, Andros Townsend revealed that everyone around Finch Farm was against his signing when he joined Everton in 2021.
“So we kept in contact. And when he got the Everton gig, my agent sort of said, Rafa’s asked about you. And at the time, Everton weren’t Newcastle, Everton weren’t Aston Villa.
“They were the best of the rest. So I was like, ‘yeah, no chance. Yeah, right.’
“Like pull the other one. But lo and behold, he calls me, he fights for me. Nobody in the club wanted me, but he fought for me, got me.
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“I ended up for four or five months producing some of my best football. Those first few months at Everton. I really was the first name on the team sheet, which was bizarre.”