Everton made some poor transfer decisions during the Farhad Moshiri reign – but Kevin Thelwell seemingly made the right call over one target given his struggles today.
Fans are hoping to see poor recruitment become a thing of the past under The Friedkin Group, and there’s real excitement about the next transfer window.
TFG will have the chance to flex their financial muscles a bit more this time around, with PSR not as great a concern.
There’s a lot to do for the new owners, but hopefully they’ll get the vast majority of their decisions right.
Good recruitment is going to be so key.
Under Farhad Moshiri, a lot of money was spent on players who did not turn out to be good enough.
But Everton seemingly did make the right call over one player who was on the club’s radar, and that player is Rasmus Hojlund.
Everton previously considered Rasmus Hojlund transfer swoop
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
According to a report from The Athletic earlier this year, Hojlund was a player Everton considered signing a few years ago.
Apparently, Everton contemplated a swoop while he was at Sturm Graz in Austria, and also Viktor Gyokeres.
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But Kevin Thelwell – who is joining Rangers after leaving Everton recently – and the hierarchy ultimately decided to go with a safer option.
Hojlund, of course, would eventually end up on English shores eventually.
In the summer of 2023, the Denmark international completed a move to Manchester United and at £72 million (Sky Sports), he is one of the most expensive Premier League striker transfers ever.
Big things were expected of Hojlund, but his move to Old Trafford has been a failure.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Everton vindicated over Hojlund after striker’s miserable Man United stint
Everton have had goalscoring issues for the past few seasons now, but the decision not to make a push for Hojlund when there was interest is now looking very wise.
The 22-year-old is coming to the end of his second season at United, and is a player many don’t consider to be anywhere near good enough to lead the line at Old Trafford.
He has scored just 26 goals in 94 appearances for the Red Devils, and has not come close to proving he was worth £72 million.
Indeed, pundit Roy Keane has not been impressing, saying at the weekend (via Daily Mail): “We keep making excuses for him. We talk about confidence, but you still think, when you’re a striker, you have to make something happen sometimes.
“‘What the big clubs have – and what United have always had – is strikers who can produce something for themselves even if they’re not getting great service. They produce something because they have quality, a bit of determination, a bit of experience, football intelligence. We don’t see that with Hojlund.”
Rasmus Hojlund in the Premier League
Appearances – 61
Goals – 14
Assists – 3
Hojlund came under fire again last night as United lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur.
He completed just 5/6 passes in the game (via Sofascore), and had 15 touches. This was the fewest of any player who started the game, indicating an alarming lack of influence.
In a game where United needed him to step up, he failed and was hooked after 71 minutes.
Everton wasted a lot of money on players on Moshiri’s watch, but it’s now looking like the decision not to push for Hojlund was the correct one.