Michael Ball has stated that he has been left disappointed by Everton inactivity in the transfer market.
In his column for the Liverpool Echo, Michael Ball has expressed his disappointment at Everton’s not strengthening their squad sufficiently so far this summer.
Everton managed a bit of a coup by securing the services of Ronald Koeman as manager this summer and many believed that the Dutchman would be able to attract a number of high profile players to Goodison Park this summer, especially due to the presence of billionaire owner Farhad Moshiri.
Everton also signed Steve Walsh as the club Head of Recruitment from champions Leicester City and fans were certainly excited at the arrival of the 51-year-old as he had been credited with unearthing gems such as Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante among others at the King Power Stadium.
As it has turned out though, Everton have surprisingly been very quiet in the transfer market and have only completed the signings of Idrissa Gueye and Maarten Stekelenburg so far.
With less than a week to go before the start of the upcoming Premier League campaign, Everton most certainly need to ramp up their bid to sign new players in the coming days and now former Toffees’ star Michael Ball has gone on to express his disappointment at how things have transpired at Goodison Park this summer.
In his column for the Liverpool Echo, Ball stated that Everton should have brought in their targets before the start of the Premier League season and added that new faces will be crucial in lifting the fans as well as players.
Ball stated, “There is disappointment we haven’t yet managed to bring in new players. And it’s likely we’ll be making big changes while the season is ongoing.
“For me, the transfer window should shut before the season starts. I’m sure Walsh and the recruitment team will have a list of players they want, but that’s the easy bit. Going out and getting them involved in the new story of Everton Football Club will be the hard part.
“We relied too much on Lukaku last season and that showed during the second half of the campaign when he lost a bit of form and sharpness. Players always thrive off new faces in a squad. It can light their fire, provide competition for places and help current players learn from a different style of play from the newcomers.
“The majority of this Everton squad have been together for three or four years now, and with a bit of tweaking they may have a better idea of what they can achieve. Koeman had a clear way of playing when in charge at Southampton and it’ll be a question of whether the current squad can take that on board.
“Having played under several Dutch managers myself in the past, I can guarantee Koeman will improve the level of players and make training more intense. That’s what is needed to perform at the highest level and if they players do that and listen to him, then success can follow. But the squad needs strengthening – and soon.”
