Newcastle United’s takeover has been the talk of football over the past week but it’s not just about having money and we at Everton been the prime example of that.
We’ve gone out in the recent past and over-spent because people know we’ve got money and Newcastle United are now going to have to face this issue and then, given that you can only spend so much depending on what you generate, they’ll have to contend with Financial Fair Play in a few years if that stays around.
Manchester City and Chelsea have also had to face it and prices go up. You don’t want to miss out on targets and end up paying the extra because there are only so many world-class players out there and everyone seems to be after the same ones.
Newcastle United are now going to become extra competition to ourselves in the coming years in the transfer market.
We’ve got to keep boxing clever like we’ve already done with Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray, keep producing our own players through the Academy and having the pull of a manager like Rafa Benitez.
READ MORE: Jose Mourinho recommendation, David Beckham experience and two shock transfers explained
It will be interesting to see who goes to Newcastle but we’ve just got to focus on ourselves and hope we’ve got a manager who can bring a bit of stability and still be here when we move into our new stadium.
This period of changing manager after manager has not helped anybody at the club, including the likes of David Unsworth and the recruitment guys because they’re looking for targets who play a certain style to suit the manager but he’s out of the door and there’s a new guy coming with his own style.
The Academy is always going to be there in the decades ahead and we need to keep investing in it and make sure the quality is there, both in terms of the recruits we’re producing and the coaches who are shaping them because we can’t rely on being the big spenders in the transfer market.
The Newcastle takeover highlights how Everton might have to look down different avenues like we did with Dominic Cavert-Lewin, buying him young and then bringing him on.
It’s not all about breaking records every transfer window, as we know it hasn’t worked for us and doesn’t guarantee success.
Over the past few years we’ve been guilty of blocking the pathways of quite a few youngsters coming through.
Whether they’re good enough or not is a separate issue but as a young player you’re not going to come to Everton if you don’t see a pathway to the first team.
That’s the reason Jude Bellingham went to Borussia Dortmund. It wasn’t about money, other clubs were willing to offer him a more lucrative package but he knew Dortmund had a track record of bringing them through as teenagers.
Everton should be trying to develop the networks where they can identify the best young talent from across Europe and beyond and try to bring them to the club earlier, perhaps learning from the Dutch style that Marcel Brands will have known from his time at another of my former clubs, PSV.
Dutch football and Premier League football is obviously very different.
You’re given the opportunity earlier in Holland and they want the player to be successful because that’s their business, bringing them in from South America or wherever, and get them in the first team as soon as possible and will keep on selling to the big boys in Europe, like what happened with Ronaldo.
It’s not about loyalty for them. You try and teach them as much as you can over two or three years and then sell them on.
The Premier League is more competitive and it’s difficult to give so many youngsters an opportunity.
PSV might be on top for a year or two but then it’s the revolving door and they sell all of their best players to keep the business going and struggle for a few seasons until the next group of kids get a run of games and it’s the same for Ajax and Feyenoord. That’s their business model.
You’d think with Marcel coming to the football club, you’d have a greater understanding of who these prospects are and through his networks and partnerships, he should know who the next generation of top players might be.
Perhaps it’s more difficult now because of Brexit and the rules over bringing in young players from abroad but I believe there’s an opportunity there for Everton.
Benitez has had plenty to deal with but is on the right track
I think the international break came at a good time for us and it’s an opportunity to take stock of this new-look Everton side and their new manager.
We’ve had quite a few players out injured so they’ve had an extra 10 days or so to recover while the guys who haven’t been 100% have been able to raise their fitness levels up.
Rafa Benitez has had a lot to deal with already.
There have been lots of plates to juggle but what I’ve liked about him so far is that’s he’s said it like it is but hasn’t moaned or made excuses.
Before one of the games he said he had to coach the players and get the best out of them, that’s his job, and he’s managing to do that.
We’re scoring goals without key players and being without Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison as the other lads have upped their game.
When we had Romelu Lukaku and he wasn’t playing, we’d struggle to find ways to win games but so far we’ve had the raised levels of Abdoulaye Doucoure while the two new boys Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend have been the kind of players we’ve been lacking for a number of years, having pace and positivity on the ball while also being able to put the ball in the net or create opportunities.
It’s also been encouraging over how we’re going about our business, pressing up the field.
Even though the Yerry Mina goal at Manchester United was disallowed for offside, the fact that we won the ball in the opposition final third showed how we’re smelling a bit of blood and that comes down to confidence and desire.
We’re showing we can go toe-to-toe with anybody and have a battle, putting them under pressure. That’s what I think the fans have been crying out for.
The place seems totally different, we just seem to be more together again.
I don’t think expectations were high at all before the season because we’d not spent big amounts of money in the transfer market.
When you also consider we’ve also had injuries, so to be where we are now, level on points with Manchester City, you’d take that all day.
After seven Premier League games it’s so far, so good and I don’t think many Evertonians will be complaining where we’re at right now.
