Everton are about to leave their spiritual home Goodison Park this season and make the move over to the new Hill Dickinson Stadium on Bramley Moore Dock this summer, but there are more tumultuous decisions that need to be made, primarily on the player front.
Over a dozen players are on loan or have contracts that expire at the end of the current season. While it would be nice to think that the club can and should replace them all, squad overhauls of that magnitude are rarely seen, and even less frequently deemed successful.
A truly gargantuan task awaits the club’s thinktank as they perform a squad makeover during this summer’s transfer window, but it appears some decisions have already been made regarding which players will be offered contract extensions.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference today ahead of Sunday’s final game at Goodison, manager David Moyes said that announcements were on the way -
“We may announce something before the final game. We’re down the road with quite a few situations at the moment. We’re just not quite there yet for an announcement but we’re not too far away.
“I think it’d be wrong [to give any updates now]. As you know, I like to make sure the players are all aware of situations before we say anything.”
Fan favourite and current club captain Seamus Coleman also has a contract that ends this season, but it appears he will still be at the club when the Blues open their new home on the docks. When asked if Coleman would lead the players up the tunnel to the tune of Z-Cars on Sunday, Moyes said -
“It does come into my thinking. What I will say is Sunday is a game where we’re going to do everything we can to prepare the best and play the best we can.
“Seamus will stay next season, without doubt. Seamus will be part of the group. I need him here. His leadership, the message he has here amongst the dressing room and between the players is so strong, it’d be wrong of me to let him go. One way or the other, Seamus will be here next season.
“Seamus is actually a little bit more than being a player here. He’s going into a position where he’s helped the Club through some of the most difficult periods. He’s never been to another club, we put him out on loan at Blackpool when he first came but other than that he’s been here and he’s played the games.”
Would he call Coleman a “modern-day legend” of Everton?
“I think so. Legends are normally the ones who win FA Cups and are involved in league titles and stuff like that but I think there are other things with Seamus. His professionalism, him as a human being... I think in some ways he’s carried Everton a little bit through the difficult periods. I know he’s certainly done that in the dressing room.”
The manager added that defender Jake O’Brien had recovered from the niggle that kept him out of the 3-1 win away at Fulham last weekend.