Abdoulaye Doucoure, David Moyes
(Credit: Imago)
Dan Godfrey
Thu 27 March 2025 14:28, UK
Everton supporters are anticipating a busy summer of transfers this year as The Friedkin Group prepare for their first window in charge.
While the Toffees prepare to move into the Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium as a Premier League club – with their fate effectively sealed early thanks to the inspired run of form under David Moyes – the upward trajectory plan on Merseyside is something the board and manager must sell to prospective signings.
In the current squad, several players are expected to move on and there are a few key decisions to be made on contracts of long-serving and highly-respected members of Moyes‘ squad.
Everton buyer Dan Friedkin
Dan Friedkin will lead Everton into an exciting summer (Credit: Imago)
Everton must offer midfield star revised contract
Several Everton stalwarts will see their deals expire on 30 June this year, as it stands.
The likes of long-serving but injury-hampered Dominic Calvert-Lewin, 35-year-old Idrissa Gueye and fellow veteran Ashley Young – 40 this summer – are all soon to be out of contract.
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Another curious case is that of Abdoulaye Doucoure, who may be 32 but has provided a significant impact on this Everton team at their worst in recent years, and his contribution should never be discarded.
His reported wages of £120,000 per week are the issue which makes it more understandable that Everton seem unwilling to extend his contract on the same terms.
Gueye is three years his senior and could be one Everton have to bid farewell to in the new era, and James Garner has suffered not only with injuries but his own uncertain future in blue.
If there is a way to tie Doucoure down and negotiate reduced terms for a longer deal, it should be done. He just gets it. In a huge transitional period with a change of stadium, regime and first full season back for Moyes, the midfield Malian is that kind of essential throwback brute force in the middle of the park – reminiscent of those who played for the Scotsman at Goodison Park in the 2000s.
His understanding of the Toffees support can be crucial to the clutch of new arrivals Friedkin is set to pay for in the summer, PSR permitting, while one or two under contract may have to be sold to force the tricky balancing act.
One of those potential targets is £16million-rated Lens midfielder Andy Diouf, 21 (Jeunesfooteux, 26 March), who could become a long-term successor to Doucoure.
Among all the players set to wave goodbye to Everton in the coming months, they should not let their adopted Evertonian be part of that posse – though Doucoure and his camp would need to cooperate.
Doucoure has been at the heart of keeping a faltering Everton side afloat in recent years (Credit: Imago)
Doucoure is an old-school Moyes player in a new Moyes team
For the football nostalgics, Doucoure’s style is great to watch. He is a versatile type of midfielder not in positional terms, but more in his adaptability to suit any kind of battle Everton are facing.
Physical dogfight – as much as they are evaporating these days in the Premier League – he can perform. A battle of wits in the middle of the park – he can perform. A backs-to-the-wall low block against an in-form Champions League opponent – he can perform.
He’s not perfect by any stretch – like everyone, he has had some appalling games down the years – but that is reflective of where Everton have been. He has still been part of a handful to save them when they’ve needed him most.
Abdoulaye Doucoure – Everton
Appearances 158
Goals 20
Doucoure has been a key figure at Goodison
To let Doucoure leave and not become a key transitional player to help bed in and play alongside the new signings could be a mistake.
That’s not to say he would start every week – times do have to change. Everton are already compiling a list of replacements. But as a squad player, he still has so much to offer, and it could mean full surgery on the entire midfield which would be a huge change for one summer.
It just feels as if the former Watford star still has a part to play, and should be a priority for the board to secure for at least another year – wages permitting.
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