The start of July marked the beginning of the new football financial year - and with it several players entered the final 12 months of their current deals
Carlos Alcaraz is one of seven Everton players now in the final 12 months of his contract - though the club does have the option to extend it by a further year. Photo by Silvina Brodersohn - CameraSport via Getty Images
Carlos Alcaraz is one of seven Everton players now in the final 12 months of his contract - though the club does have the option to extend it by a further year. Photo by Silvina Brodersohn - CameraSport via Getty Images
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Seven members of the Everton first team squad have now entered the final 12 months of their contracts.
The group, which includes the likes of Beto and Michael Keane, includes several players who clocked up a significant number of first team appearances over the course of last season.
While Everton embark on the second summer of their squad rebuild under the Friedkin Group, club chiefs will also have an eye on the future of those who could leave for free next year, with decisions to be made on whether to offer any of them new contracts - or to listen to offers in an attempt to boost David Moyes’ budget for the rest of the current transfer window.
One player who has attracted interest throughout his turbulent Everton career is Beto. The Guinea-Bissau forward hit form in the second half of the season to provide nine goals in the Premier League, his resurgence kickstarted by his stoppage time equaliser at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Moyes (also now in the final year of his contract) entered the summer open to seeking improvements up front but aware the market would be tough and with the belief the 17 league goals Beto and Thierno Barry combined to produce represented a foundation that could be built on if needed. While Barry is still raw, and there were times when there was a drop-off when he replaced Beto - most notably in the home Merseyside derby, the 23-year-old also produced good moments.
The enquiry in his availability from RB Leipzig has been received as vindication of his potential given that club’s record of developing talent. Whether he and Beto can improve on last season remains to be seen but Everton would only countenance the sale of one of the pair if a replacement could be lined up, even with Beto’s current contract entering its final year.
Everton agreed a deal with Crystal Palace for Dwight McNeil in January, with an initial loan that contained an obligation to buy the 26-year-old for around £20m signed off - only for the deal to collapse in the final minutes of the winter transfer window.
After that debacle, McNeil had a run in the team that started with the 3-2 win at Newcastle United before losing his place to Merlin Rohl. His future is uncertain as he heads into what could be the last year of an Everton career that has seen him deliver a number of standout moments with the club at its lowest ebb.
Two other players whose futures are up in the air are Tim Iroegbunam and Carlos Alcaraz. Iroegbunam enhanced his reputation last season, fighting back from a tough game at home to Newcastle United to become Moyes’ ‘go-to’ back up central midfielder. The 23-year-old impressed against Manchester United, Arsenal and in the frenetic draw against Manchester City in which he was named the player of the match.
His standing improved as he grew in stature - enough for other clubs to take notice. Everton rebuffed approaches in January but Ipswich Town and Hull City are among those who have been linked with fresh interest and the signing of Hayden Hackney could reduce his opportunities next season.
Alcaraz, meanwhile, was used sparingly by Moyes when fit despite the match-winning qualities he had displayed in the second half of the previous season while he was on loan from Flamengo. He did enough for Everton to make that move permanent but the two-year deal handed to him was unusually short. The club has an option to extend that stay and so will be comfortable with his position this summer but given Moyes’ trust in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall as an advanced midfielder, Alcaraz may well be a player the club is willing to listen to serious offers over.
A player whose exit feels inevitable is Nathan Patterson. The right back impressed in the win at Villa Park in January, his last start for Everton, but was overlooked in the second half of the season as Moyes instead chose to play centre back Jake O’Brien ahead of him at right back.
Patterson’s time at Everton has been blighted by injury but he was able to represent Scotland at the World Cup and, with finding a new right back a priority, this is set to be a summer during which the club will listen to offers in the former Rangers man.
Michael Keane and third-choice goalkeeper Tom King are also in their last year after Keane signed a 12-month extension earlier this year.
Keane was one of several players whose contracts the club moved early to tie up, with James Tarkowski, James Garner and Vitalii Mykolenko also handed new deals before their existing ones were due to expire at the end of June. Idrissa Gueye is the only player from that group whose situation is unresolved, with the veteran’s representatives having engaged with Everton before his departure for the World Cup with Senegal but no outcome having been confirmed to date.
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