Pre-season is underway, but a stagnant transfer window leaves the Toffees vulnerable. From the critical right-back search to Ndiaye’s future, Everton must act fast before the opener.
As part of a new feature, I'm going to be creating a weekly column that discusses everything that is currently happening surrounding Everton at the moment.
I'll be touching on a host of different topics every week, ranging from transfer rumours, pre-season games, Premier League fixtures, managerial decisions, and much more.
The Premier League returns one month tomorrow, and I don't know how everybody else feels, but I'm excited to have proper football back. I wouldn't be excited to see Everton return to action in their current state, which is something I will touch upon during this article.
It's an important season ahead and an even more important transfer window, and Everton arguably need to get a move on.
Going into the summer, it was absolutely no secret that Everton needed to bring in a new right-back. There's even an argument that the Toffees need to bring in more than one, especially if someone like Nathan Patterson leaves.
Seamus Coleman has already left the club, leaving us with just Jake O'Brien if Patterson does the part. Even then, O'Brien isn't a natural right back, and Everton need more in this position if they want to progress.
I was happy to give Everton a bit of leeway in the early weeks of the window after they secured the signings of both Hayden Hackney and Tyrique George. The Toffees acted reasonably quickly to get both deals over the line, and it felt like they were setting the tone for the remainder of the window.
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Their transfer business appears to have slowed down a little, which is natural, especially during a World Cup. Now it's time for Everton to get a move on, as it would be ideal to have a right back in soon in order to take part in pre-season.
There has to come a time when a push comes to shove, and Everton need to bite the bullet in order to get a deal over the line. Who that will be remains to be seen, but I do believe Everton should be looking to get at least a couple of signings in by the end of this month.
I'm not entirely sure how sure I am on this, but I do get the feeling we could see interest ramp up in Iliman Ndiaye this month. Multiple top clubs are in the market for a winger in the summer transfer window, including the likes of Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester United.
Aston Villa are in the market for a replacement for Morgan Rogers and have plenty of money to spend, while the Gunners missed out on the England international to Chelsea. Manchester United have also been heavily linked with left wingers, including the likes of Crysencio Summerville. It wouldn't be a surprise if Ndiaye attracted concrete interest from them.
It's been well documented that Ndiaye has rejected multiple contract offers from Everton and is clearly looking to play Champions League football in the near future. Considering Everton only paid in the region of £15 million for the Senegalese international, it would be a surprise if Everton demanded the sort of fee that Villa wanted for Rogers.
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As a result, he could be a fairly cheap replacement for Villa, and it wouldn't be a surprise if he was the target. I still think Everton will demand over £60 million, but that's around half what they received for Rogers.
Without sounding doom and gloom and like I'm trying to sell one of our best players, Ndiaye would also be perfect for Villa. Unai Emery likes his wingers to work incredibly hard, something which we've seen from Ndiaye, while he is also a versatile option, just like Rogers.
It would be great if we could convince Ndiaye to stay and then build the team around him, as there's no doubt there's more to come from him when Everton become more of a progressive side. Unfortunately, right now we're not the kind of side that's going to get the best out of him, so it wouldn't be a huge surprise if they accepted an offer above £60 million.
I might be reading a little too much into this, but was David Moyes sending a message to the board with some of his decisions during the friendly against Dundee?
Moyes opted to start Merlin Rohl at right back against Dundee, moving Jake O'Brien into centre back. Everton had options on the bench to avoid being forced to do so, with James Tarkowski coming on in the second half, meaning O'Brien could have played right back.
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In the second half, Moyes also deployed George as a centre-forward rather than bringing on Thierno Barry. Beto was replaced at half-time with Dwight McNeil moving out to the left, with Barry remaining on the bench and coming on alongside academy players.
With both of these decisions, was Moyes just trying to test out some players in new positions? Was he sending a message to the board that he wants a striker and a right back immediately? Or was it perhaps a bit of both?