Farewell, Gana Gueye

Steve Walsh’s time as Everton’s director of football is much maligned, and for fair reason. When the Toffees had an influx of cash and no financial fair play worries, he lacked the know-how and conviction required to make the most of it. He was also, like directors of football that followed, never probably allowed to do his job all that fully.

But, as he proved during his time as a scout at Leicester City, when he played key roles in the signing of N'Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez, among others, Walsh could pick a player.

And it goes under the radar that one of Everton’s first signings of the Farhad Moshiri era was Idrissa Gana Gueye from Aston Villa for just £7.1M.

Gueye had played just one season at Villa, in which they were relegated with a whimper. It would be fair to say the midfielder had not seemed particularly eye-catching, too.

But at £7.1M for a 26-year-old, it was certainly worth a punt.

Now, a decade — and two separate spells at Everton — later, Gueye is finally saying goodbye to the Toffees. At the age of 36, his contract has not been renewed, and he has failed to agree terms on a new deal. He is set for the riches of Saudi Arabia; one more swan song before retirement.

What comes next for Everton? There’ll be plenty of time to ponder that. The club, it seems, have been anticipating this, and are perhaps trying to move in a different direction. They want a natural number 6 — a player to sit in front of the defence. They have signed Hayden Hackney, perhaps in an attempt to add a bit more guile and maybe even transition into a 4-3-3 shape down the line.

Instead, let’s take a look back at Gueye’s impact. Because even if he did, for some reason, become a lightning rod for criticism during his time here, he was, simply put, brilliant.

Consistently consistent, ever reliable, a tireless worker and a leader by example.

There were some fantastic displays across his 7 years in royal blue. His first season was exceptional, and in the back half of the final campaign of his first stint at Everton, Gueye was arguably the best type of midfielder in Europe when it came to ball-winning, pressing and hassling the opposition. 

Those performances led to Paris Saint-Germain paying £30M to sign him in 2019, and Everton’s efforts to replace Gueye went so badly that in 2022, they re-signed him.

But even at 33, Gueye was still a force to be reckoned with. He slotted straight back into the midfield, but whereas in his first spell, he had been playing in a team pushing for Europe, Everton were now a side battling relegation under Frank Lampard and then Sean Dyche.

Gueye performed, he did his best to drag the team along and one week in particular stands out from the 2023-24 campaign. Everton played Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Brentford in the space of a week; Gueye scored against Forest and Brentford, and bossed the middle of the park against Liverpool. Three wins, three star displays.

Gueye may well have left at the end of last season, but with so much to do when it came to rebuilding the squad, it felt vital that Everton kept hold of him. He had, after all, ended the 2024-25 season as the top tackler across Europe’s top five leagues.

Those numbers did drop off somewhat last season, but he still more than showed his worth; a rush of blood to the head at Old Trafford aside, when he slapped Michael Keane and saw red. Even though James Garner stepped up and showed he could be the main man in midfield, Gueye was still missed when he was absent, first due to suspension and then due to the Africa Cup of Nations.

He was, however, overused by David Moyes. Was there really a need for him to play as many full 90 minutes as he did?

Moyes’ decision backfired when Gueye sustained a hamstring injury in April and ultimately missed the last 4 games of the season, and Everton crumbled.

That was not all down to Gueye’s absence, but it certainly didn’t help the cause.

The time is probably right to move on. Everton can’t be offering out big money to a soon-to-be 37-year-old, and Gueye has every right to feel like he can take up one more lucrative offer as his playing career winds down.

He will be missed, but Everton have to learn to live without him and perhaps it’s now time to move in a different direction, with a different kind of midfield.

But Gueye should always hold a special place in Evertonian hearts. Not a legend, by any means, but an excellent player who gave his all and fell in love with this club.

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