Everton have been linked with a new striker in this January transfer window.placeholder image
Everton have been linked with a new striker in this January transfer window. | AFP via Getty Images
Everton need to keep building with one major factor likely to be pivotal towards their chances of success.
Everton are at something of a crossroads. They have the right manager to take them up the table, but there is a ceiling that they have to break through under David Moyes to take the next step.
Spending money doesn’t always equate to quality, but if the Toffees get it right, European football should be a consistent reward for being the best of the rest in the Premier League. Aston Villa have shown what can be achieved with stability and the right manager and it is a blueprint that Everton should look to emulate.
Everton will be desperate for European football
There is one major factor that could influence how successful Everton are in the summer – their final league position. One good example is the speculation linking Moyes with a move for Harry Wilson. The Wales international is 28 now and won’t want to be signing for a team who is battling relegation or drifting in mid-table obscurity. Having spent much of his peak years in the Championship and with Fulham, he will want to experience big European nights before the opportunity passes him by.
Wilson isn’t unique. It isn’t even the Champions League that is the must have for the modern footballer, they all appreciate the importance of European football to catch the eye, climb the ladder and earn a few more pounds in their pay packet. For Everton and Moyes, it could be the difference between growth, stagnation or even regression. Moyes himself spoke about how difficult it was to rebuild the Everton squad last summer, with the proof of stability and, potentially, a place in the Europe League or Europa Conference League, that task might be considerably easier for players with a decision to make.
What Moyes said about Everton’s transfer struggles
Everton left it late last summer, going on tour to the USA with a skeleton squad and a real worry that they might not even have 20 senior players when the season kicked off: "The truth is we're not getting a lot of the deals over the line at the moment, that's a fact," Moyes said last summer via BBC Sport.
"We're desperate to get things moving on because we know time's running out. The one thing I'll do is I'll tell the fans straight, and I'm telling it straight at the moment, we're having a bit of a struggle getting ones in quickly," said Moyes. “My first thought is yes, I'm surprised, because I think Everton's such a big club, with great traditions and the new stadium's an exciting move for us.
"But when you think again about it, we've been in or around the relegation positions for the last five years, not far off the bottom, so maybe there's been reasons for it." A corner has been turned, now Everton need European football to put the foot down and go to the next level.
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