Things are going swimmingly at Everton. However, the club are stepping into uncharted waters and the coming months will be crucial in setting a course for the coming years.
With David Moyes back at the helm, confidence is much higher than in recent years, doubly so given The Friedkin Group’s ownership has started so well, relegation fears now a distant memory. The hope is that it will remain as such.
With Moyes back, the Toffees have crafted a seven-match unbeaten run in the Premier League, with good form over the next two months maybe even putting them in outside reach of a top-half finish.
TFG’s new infrastructure includes incoming Director of Football Angus Kinnear from Leeds United, replacing Kevin Thelwell. Numerous first-teamers are approaching the conclusion of their contracts and uncertainty is rife.
Though there are a shedload of pressure points that need to be tactfully navigated, Kinnear will at least thank his predecessor for completing a comparatively productive transfer window in 2024.
A review of Everton's summer transfers
Everton’s strategy was apt for dysfunction across much of Farhad Moshiri’s time at the head of the boardroom. Goodison Park lost its regular presence in and around the top half of the Premier League and sank to the division’s murky seabed, swerving relegation several times in recent years.
All told, Sean Dyche did well last season, surviving comfortably even having been hit with an eight-point deduction, and the 2024 summer window was always going to have a reduced scope with financial fatalities in mind.
Dyche and Thelwell needed to address several key concerns though, namely in attack, and so Iliman Nidaye was signed from Marseille for a £15m fee.
He’s been lauded since the get-go, a brilliant beacon through the stodgy opening months of the season and a scorer in each of Moyes’ first three wins at the helm. He was cruelly struck by injury in last month’s Merseyside derby and has yet to return.
Jake O’Brien had to bide his time before making his mark but having started nine successive games in the top flight, the Irish right-back is really coming into his own. It’s no surprise journalist Zach Lowy hailed him as a “revelation in defence” for Lyon last year, before joining Everton in a £16m move.
Orel Mangala impressed before being ruled out for the rest of the season in January, while Tim Iroegbunam shows promise and winter acquisition (initial loan) Charly Alcaraz may yet rise to fame on Merseyside too.
However, Thelwell didn’t hit the mark with every throw. Armando Broja’s £30m buy option seems apt to stay unactivated, while Jesper Lindstrom has avoided any injury issues but flattered to deceive all the same.
Let’s take a look at exactly why the right winger has been such a frustrating misfire, marring Thelwell’s largely productive final summer window.
Thelwell's Everton misfire needs to go
Lindstrom has been a regular presence this season, starting regularly under David Moyes with Ndiaye out injured and options rather thin on the right flank. His displays haven’t justified the loanee’s spot, though.
It’s understood Everton are covering Lindstrom’s wages in full, with Thelwell agreeing an additional loan fee worth roughly £2m. The one-year loan spell encapsulates about 49 weeks, meaning the club will be forking out just shy of £2.5m on paying the Dane alone.
Fair enough, a £4.5m seasonal outlay isn’t the steepest, especially when considering Lindstrom has played 29 games for the seniors in all competitions this term, starting 15 times in the Premier League.
But he hasn’t scored. In fact, Lindstrom only registered his maiden assist when finding Jack Harrison in Everton’s recent draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Everton have the option to tie Lindstrom down to a permanent deal at the end of the season, but there are variables at play which may urge Kinnear to abandon the efforts plyed and head down a different track.
Earning £50k per week, the 24-year-old is already pocketing thicker wads than Ndiaye, for example, who signed last summer on a £45k-per-week contract. However, were Everton to clinch Lindstrom permanently, the nature of football suggests his salary would enjoy an upswing.
Is this really justifiable? When comparing Lindstrom’s performances this term with those of Ndiaye, it’s rather apparent that he hasn’t been pulling his weight.
Matches (starts)
24 (22)
25 (15)
Goals
6
0
Assists
0
1
Touches*
40.5
27.2
Shots (on target)*
1.0 (0.5)
1.1 (0.4)
Pass completion
84%
79%
Key passes*
0.7
0.8
Dribbles*
2.4
0.3
Ball recoveries*
6.0
2.8
Tackles + interceptions*
2.5
2.3
Duels won*
6.1
2.8
Is it any wonder the Denmark star has admitted he’s been left “fuming” with himself after such inconsequential performances?
Thelwell really did miss the mark with this one. Lindstrom was signed late, welcomed from Napoli after an under-par campaign in Naples. The whole thing was a by-product of failed bids littered through the summer, with top targets Yankuba Minteh and Jaden Philogene joining Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa respectively.
Philogene is now on loan at struggling Ipswich Town and will be frustrated with how the year’s gone – but he’s still got three goals to his name, scoring a top-flight brace against Manchester United in February.
Down south, Minteh’s got the mark of a top-class star. The 20-year-old has fired in five Premier League goals, also laying on three assists, having started only 13 times. He’s been described as a “world-class talent” by Seagulls content creator Ryan Adsett, and rightly so.
All told, Everton must really regret not signing one of these players and instead landing Lindstrom. Though they avoided paying a transfer fee last summer, hopes will have been high that the industrious winger would produce the desirable performances and settle down in Liverpool for good.
Alas, Thewell and Dyche missed the mark with this one. Now it’s Moyes’ problem, and Kinnear’s too.
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