Everton faced with selling a star to reinforce squad

After securing survival in the penultimate game of the season in May, Everton know that more is required in this summer’s transfer window to avoid the prospect of another dismal campaign.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin was the hero with the winning goal against Crystal Palace to guarantee safety while Richarlison really stepped up in the final weeks of the season, scoring decisive goals against Chelsea and Leicester while providing the main spark to galvanise the supporters.

Unfortunately for said fans, it looks as though at least one of the duo will depart this summer with reports emerging of the Brazilian expressing his wish to move on.

Tottenham have been the club most strongly linked with the former Watford man while Newcastle have reportedly had an interest in Calvert-Lewin but nothing concrete has transpired just yet.

Years of financial mismanagement in the transfer market has led the Toffees to this point where it is very much sell in order to buy. The club have committed tens of millions in years gone by but have very little to show for it. The squad is in dire need of a revamp.

Selling one of the star pair would provide much needed funds for Frank Lampard to get in some of his own players but there needs to be joined-up thinking across the club or lessons will not be learned.

Harry Winks has been rumoured to come in from Spurs and while Lampard may be an admirer, it’s not going to set pulses racing across Merseyside. A rumoured £20 million fee also bears the hallmarks of the club not learning from previous errors.

Winks is a decent player but someone with a similar skillset from abroad could be brought in for a fraction of the price. Signing players no longer wanted by more successful clubs hasn’t overly worked out for Everton recently and there aren’t many reasons to think this will either.

On the flip side of this argument, Oleksandr Zinchenko would make an excellent recruit and would provide an instant upgrade to the Everton midfield in a way that Winks may not necessarily.

The Ukraine international has played mainly at left-back for Manchester City in recent years but looked excellent in midfield for his country in their recent World Cup playoff games with Scotland and Wales. Years learning and developing under Pep Guardiola only further bolsters his credentials and he would be a very shrewd acquisition for Lampard.

Obviously Richarlison would need to be replaced if he is sold which adds a further complication to Lampard’s plans. In an ideal world the Brazilian international would stay but with the World Cup on the horizon it appears as if his time in blue may be up.

Where Everton go next is anyone’s guess but some ‘smart’ recruitment would go down very well at a club that has excelled in failure in the transfer market in recent years.

As things stand though, it is hard to look beyond more struggles next year if signings are not made. Although who knows what the prospective new ownership group would bring to the table.

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