Everton FC correspondent Joe Thomas reflects on a deal that was set against the backdrop of heightened PSR concerns across the Premier League
Ex-Everton forward Lewis Dobbin has joined Southampton from Aston Villa
Ex-Everton forward Lewis Dobbin has joined Southampton from Aston Villa
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Everton do not stand to benefit directly from the sale of Lewis Dobbin.
The club did insert a 10% sell-on clause when they sold him to Aston Villa two summers ago.
That clause would only relate to any profit made by Villa, however, and given Southampton have signed the 23-year-old in a deal that could rise to £9m, there is no profit to spark a windfall. Despite that, there can be little doubt this was a transfer that worked for Everton.
At the time, it felt remarkable. Dobbin had just spent a season far more involved in the Blues first team than anyone had expected - one that yielded his first senior goal (and the brilliant outpouring of emotion that followed when he sealed a home win over Chelsea).
For Villa to come knocking, however, felt unusual. And then the subtext became clear. His breakthrough season was the one in which Everton suffered two points deductions for financial breaches - unprecedented punishments that rocked the Premier League.
Going into that June, the final weeks for clubs to right their PSR wrongs, the Blues feared a third overspend and several of their rivals, now aware of the severity of punishment that potentially faced them, scrambled into action. They included Villa.
The subsequent deals between the clubs - transfers that saw emerging academy prospects head in opposite directions for similar fees, all of which could be registered in the books as pure profit - were about more than just fighting for PSR compliance. For Everton, Tim Iroegbunam certainly fit into a wider plan.
But there should be little doubt this was a switch that provided a carefully-built financial boost to two sides aware of an impending economic deadline and the pain that would await any non-compliance.
For Everton, PSR was a factor that worked to the club’s advantage. Iroegbunam was already on the radar of the club’s recruitment team, led by then director of football Kevin Thelwell.
He had impressed on loan in the Championship with QPR and Unai Emery had publicly identified him as an emerging talent. I remember having doubts over that but then Iroegbunam told me of a video call he had with Thelwell before the deal was agreed. Iroegbunam, on holiday in Mykonos, was impressed by the knowledge of his skillset and the pathway tailored towards his development that had already been drawn up from that research.
The PSR prosecutions of the previous year made clear Everton had only one way to grow sustainably - one that Thelwell had already put in motion before the club was first charged by the Premier League.
It pointed Everton towards young, promising talent that could grow with the first team’s ambitions and potentially be sold at profit in the future, thereby carrying the team forwards on the pitch while boosting the club’s finances - and fuelling greater power in the transfer market - year-on-year. Early examples of that tactic being pursued in midfield included James Garner and Amadou Onana.
Now an England international, Everton would make tens of millions in profit should anyone convince them to part with Garner, while Onana was sold for a roughly £15m profit in another deal with Villa.
Under this framework, Iroegbunam was considered a target and Villa’s PSR needs made them open to a sale. Everton needed their own to help make it work and Dobbin proved attractive to Villa’s needs at the time, though their move to re-sign Jaden Philogene later that summer quickly saw him fall down the pecking order.
Both sides got an element of what they wanted, on and off the pitch. It has worked out better for Everton, though.
Dobbin initially struggled, both at Villa and then on loan to West Bromwich Albion. A switch to Norwich City saw him find his feet and inspired his season on loan at Preston last season, where he proved himself as a genuinely influential attacking midfielder in the Championship - hence why Southampton now see him as a player who could help them push for a return to the top flight.
I was sad to see Lewis go. I sat down with him at Finch Farm ahead of the summer of his move and we spoke at length about his campaign and the pride and emotion prompted by that Chelsea goal. He had his sights set on a pre-season that ultimately unfolded elsewhere and I am pleased to see the way he has started to build his career after his move to the Midlands.
But while he has been fighting through loan spells, Iroegbunam has grown in prominence at Everton. He endured mixed fortunes in his first season and, when he was removed at half-time in the hammering at home to Newcastle United last season, I feared the worst.
He showed remarkable resilience to come back from that torrid 45 minutes though, standing out in the away win at Bournemouth before becoming David Moyes’ ‘go-to’ midfielder (in a crowded field) when Idrissa Gueye’s season ended prematurely.
Iroegbunam played well in both narrow defeats to Arsenal and was deservedly named man of the match for his lung-busting display against Manchester City.
He is still learning but he enhanced his reputation last season. The arrival of Hayden Hackney means there is doubt over his future at Everton but that is partly because he has now shown enough quality in the Premier League to justify an expectation of opportunities to play - something that might be tough in the coming campaign. His displays have led to interest from elsewhere, too.
Should he part ways with the club this summer there is no doubt it would be at profit for Everton, becoming yet another player signed amid the chaos and uncertainty of the final years of Farhad Moshiri’s ownership to have been picked up at an affordable price and to have developed into a player capable of helping the first team AND bolstering the finances - a remarkable achievement given the turmoil the club’s football operation was operating in at the time.