The Financing and Accounting of Transfers and How We Operate in this Window

I personally think it's time for Moshiri to swing the axe, rather than try to manage his way out of the mess. It's the only way to establish a firm foundation, to build from.

When you look at Everton's actual situation, it is hard not to think that there is a fair amount of lack of reality within the club. Do a lot of them even care?

I believe we are going to have to lose two of our only appreciated assets – Digne and Richalison, who we could expect to make back around double what we paid for them.

If selling those two will allow us to start again, so to speak, then so be it.

I'd also accept anything over £20M for Calvert-Lewin if it came in.

I know that this is just putting off the inevitable issues but at least we would have breathing space to plan.

I still think that the board is woefully short of the experience required to deal with issues of this magnitude.

I don't agree with selling our biggest assets to address FFP as it will also put us firmly in relegation trouble.

We aren't the only club in this position, most prem clubs will be in the same boat.

Spurs applied for furlough cash but are now trading multi-million-pound players with Southampton!

For me one way out of this is to look into what the so-called big boys are doing. After all the whole thing is designed around keeping the big clubs at the trough.

If we end up selling Richarlison and Digne, then I sense there will be a lot of fans who will accept it as a survival plan and those whom, will see this as further demise and fall from grace.

I live in hope every day and for Everton, hope eternal. Can Marcel Brands raise a £100M in sales of our dead wood, this window?

If we can get £60M, it will be an achievement, and I wonder how much Kieran Dowell, went for?

Will this be a good transfer window for Everton?

Luckily, like the PSV model that's slowly being implemented, we've now got 4 players in the squad 20 or under: Kean, Gordon, Branthwaite and we may count the new left-back from Marseille, Nkounkou. In 2 years, they should all appreciate in value, and starting from a low wage base.

Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and Holgate are excellent at 23.

If we sell Tosan and a couple of other fringe players in this window, that will be a big help according to the data above.

Yes, grim reading. However, we're in a better position in terms of the number of good young players on lower wages, once we shed the fringe players. Possibly better than when Moyes took the helm and he had to refresh the squad over a few seasons?

Your second sentence brilliantly summarises our season for me: "We finish the 2019-20 season with a desperately unbalanced, uncompetitive squad devoid of direction, leadership and the numerous qualities required of a competitive football club."

I couldn't have put it better myself.

Would the summary be:

"We bought poorly at inflated prices, spunked loads on managers, and now it's biting us on the arse"?

Richarlison & Digne are probably our biggest assets. Don't get me wrong: I like them both... but they are irreplaceable for little money – most definitely.

I think Digne will be sold and a left-back bought with money left over to invest – then more fringe players sold, freeing up wages.

Where would selling Mina, Sigurdsson, Bernard, Bolasie, Sandro, and Delph get us? Maths lesson, please!

That is an excellent analysis and highlights to me the worth of getting expensive wages off the books while achieving a profit on book value.

Seems to me Mina looks the most promising in that category and Delph would also contribute positively albeit a much lesser effect.

Sandro and Bernard too would help reduce the wage bill.

After all, it's occupied by a second-rate theatre producer, a woman who agrees with everything he says and takes personal credit for the achievements of people under her doing good work in a very parochial charitable field, a Russian whiz-kid (allegedly) who seemingly agrees with everything his delusional boss tells him, and some other bozo whose career details escape me.

Wow! The Premier League boardrooms must surely quake in their boots when Everton get in contact!!!!

Like Stephen #3, I thought FFP regulations had been relaxed this year, which would be a help as quite a few expensive contracts end next summer.

I hate to say it but, in these Covid-19 times, might an option be to do nothing? Might we have to accept that we remain where we are for the next 2 seasons and just try and hope we can pick up a couple of players like Calvert-Lewin or Holgate along the way?

Drastic for the football and supporters but beneficial to the Club?

Being a simple SME owner, I see the main drag on the P&L to be player wages. Surely, player transfer fees and values are assets and go to the balance sheet.

So, get rid of the dross in terms of ridiculously high wages, even if it means not achieving the price(s) we paid.

Any fee received would drop straight to the bottom line, although their relatively low wages, would have less of an impact.

Carlo might not be keen on losing Holgate or Calvert-Lewin, but maybe losing Kenny or Davies (or Dowell) might be more acceptable to him, providing a decent fee can be received in this environment.

It's a hell of a balancing job to be done here, and some decisions may be painful, but the fact remains that our young homegrown players are probably more desirable than most of our expensive ‘superstars'. Although the sale of the likes of Richarlison or Pickford for a decent fee may well be attractive too.

These are the sort of conversations that may well have been taking place.

What a shambles. Weaken the squad further to enable further purchases, and hope we get it right this time.

Of course other clubs are mired in a similar mess but it shows just how daft our sport has become. So dependent on the TV masters, so desperate to stay in the Premier League for fear of falling off the gravy train ad into oblivion.

For me, there are two solutions and Ancelotti has already alluded to one of them. We need to cease carping-on about the flaws in our players and get on with improving them individually and instilling into them the patterns of play that the coach requires. These men have been very costly, either in transfer fees, or development and of course in wages.

The skill will be in reducing the squad thus lowering the wage bill. If it means getting very little for those players then we have to take the hit. In terms of recruitment, we simply have to look more carefully at where we can get bargains, and take a punt early in a player's emergence.

Kerney cost Arsenal about £25 million but I recall us all talking about him a year earlier when he would have been far cheaper. Our trouble is that we have purchased some players clearly not physically strong enough for our league. Mina and Bernard fit this category, the defender having long levers and tendons and ligaments unable to cope with them, and Bernard, a man with lovely skill but trapped in the body of a little girl.

There must be some bargains to be had out there, the football league, the Championship, Scotland, Portugal. Do we actually do any scouting or are all of the players brought in on a list by agencies?

So sell Mina, Benard and Pickford. Off-load the high wage earners for whatever we can get, Walcott, Sigurdsson, Iwobi, Tosun, etc. If we really need the money sell Digne, he is good but only a left-back. keep Richarlison, Holgate, Calvert-Lewin and go out and buy some hungry grafters. And don't offer such high wages.

In the absence of the internal. Management of the club being totally gutted, which we still need to be done no matter whatever is candy on the playing side, Ancelotti tenure now hangs on six factors.

The ability of Brands to off-load the deadwood which Ancelotti has exposed as being of a larger extent than first thought;

The effectiveness of Brands changes in Youth development initiated before Ancelotti started.

Ancelotti's team's effectiveness in changing the culture and level of training at Finch Farm. This includes the buying into Ancelotti's tactical and technical coaching.

The ability of Brands to find the players that Ancelotti deems necessary to strategically turn the first team around, within the financial constraints, as outlined by Paul the Esk, and Everton's accompanying reputation.

The financial commitment of Moshiri, given previous losses and misuse of funds.

I'd love to see Pickford replaced but that looks like it would be asking too much of the next two windows.

Phase one is clearing out the real deadwood, at bargain prices if necessary.

We buy a player for £30 million on a 5-year contract, we pay all of this upfront. That figure is recorded in the books at £6million a year, but then we sell him at the start of year 3.

1. Must he stay in the amortisation figures until year 5?

2. If not, how do we account for the £30 million upfront fee that has already been paid? ie, do we see the sudden disposal of £18 million at the start of year 3 when he was sold hidden in the amortisation figures?

If 1 is correct then amortisation numbers could get very high if your player turnover is high regardless of who is actually in your squad? Amortisation reflects your spending and not your selling.

If 2 is correct then we should not sell for less than the residual amortised figure as then we would have a technical debt ongoing until year 5.

Amortisation = real cost that can become virtual cost.

I am hoping that we don't have to sell the family silver in Digne and god forbid Richarlison. That is an easy route out of it for Brands.** He was brought in to build a team and not dismantle one.

Ancelotti need our best players and his own reinforcements to make any sense of his appointment.

In light of our financial situation, as Paul excellently summarises, Brands has to be bang on form with transfer dealings. He has to look at player-plus-cash deals so we can offload some players who are not in Carlo's plans and use them as makeweights for the players we really need.

Some of the players we have can do a great job used in the right way for a different club. So such creative transfer deals will be difficult, but possible.

I think this window will make or break Marcel Brands's tenure at Everton. We will soon find out if he has got what it takes.

** In reality, every player has his price – I mean, if Man City submit an £80M offer for Digne or PSG sell Mbappe or Neymar then offer us £140M for Richarlison, what do we do then? At some level, a debate will open up.

Okay, it doesn't matter (other than for cash flow purposes) what the payment terms are, whether we pay the whole amount in one go or over 2 or 3 years (as is typical now). We will pay that amount regardless of how long the player stays.

You are right that the cost is spread over the contract. £30 million over 5 years costs £6 million a year in amortisation.

If we sell on the first day of year 3, the player's book value is £18 million (30-6-6). That figure is used to calculate whether we have sold the player at a profit or a loss. The moment we sell him, amortisation stops, there's no further cost to the P&L.

Hope that helps

Most Clubs do make the odd faux pas when buying players, and every high-cost signing doesn't always guarantee success, but to have repeated it so many times is unforgivable.

One saving grace, if you could call it that, is that the fans have had no part whatsoever in who was bought or brought in, more's the pity that we didn't. Although we rarely all agree on everything I think if it had been left to us, or at least we had a majority vote on who we wanted (or didn't want), the Club would be in a much healthier position than they are now.

I don't know who the main finger of blame can be pointed at, but the changes of Managers and DoF leave 2 constants in this whole mess: Kenwright and Moshiri himself.

If we didn't know better, you would think that Everton FC is being deliberately ruined financially from within. I really don't understand how so many mistakes have been made in the last five years or so. Either Mr Moshiri is a foolish guy who doesn't mind losing cash or he is an egotist who wants to see the players of his choice wearing a blue shirt.

I think we were all hoping to see a slicker, sharper operation when the Iranian bought the club, but it seems that we've somehow managed to make things worse by spending huge sums of money on mostly second-rate signings.

We can no longer spend ourselves out of this mess, so we have to hope that all departments improve significantly and somehow Ancelotti can forge a team that can produce a higher number of points than we've seen in recent times.

Patience, which is understandably wearing thin, will be required yet again by the long-suffering supporters of this club. Winning football matches more regularly is the only way to improve the club's standing and its financial well-being.

Our few successes this season have been around younger players brought in cheaply, developed and then further improved by Carlo: Calvert-Lewin, Holgate, Branthwaite, and also Gordon who's come through our system. If Marcel can identify them and Carlo can improve them, then we may have a way forward.

It seems ridiculous to see talk of us paying £18M for a back up for Digne unless we really are going to sell him when we have potential cover in Lewis Gibson and recently signed Niels Nkounkou. Neither I would add would replace Digne, but certainly Gibson could provide left-back cover if developed.

I am by nature eternally optimistic and considered the new world order as a result of Covid-19 could benefit the club in terms of financing and building the new stadium.

Similarly, this transfer window should be a buyer's market, but the stark numbers in your sobering piece gives me pause for thought.

Since Moshiri opened his wallet the previously frugal player purchases which we had adopted during the Premier League era was replaced by scattergun high priced players, on long-term contracts and high salaries, making them unattractive to move on, with seemingly very little thought given to whether each signing added to the squad. £450 million we have expended on Moshiri's watch, and not a lot to show for it.

Exactly as you describe, Paul, four - going on five - years of poor recruitment have now come together at the worst possible time.

Now when Carlo Ancelotti was recruited in December, it was on the presumption that life would continue as normal, there would be a full summer of more studied recruitment and yet more deadwood could be trimmed from the bloated, unbalanced squad.

The Coronavirus has completely torpedoed that scenario, leaving Everton's finances and player resources severely exposed.

Paul starkly lays out how this all impacts on the club's finances. An article in the Echo yesterday reinforces Paul's belief that 'the outgoings will be as important financially as the incomings.' Already, 14-15 players have left the club.

And more will follow. Just this morning, I read that Bolasie, who some are lobbying to be retained for next season, does not figure in Carlo's plans and is training with Unsworth's U-23s rather than the first team. The aim is again to find him a club for next season, be it a loan or permanent transfer.

Tosun would likely be another one out of the door, but for him being injured until November.

Any Evertonian who knows their football can identify what most needs addressing in the squad. For all the reasons Paul lays out, it is not going to be an easy task for Brands and Ancelotti to resolve in the topsy-turvy new order under which we are currently living.

Arsenal to make 55 redundant

Thanks for the analysis and explanations to go with it. Grim isn't the word.

Everton could still have an advantage regarding the stadium. Speaking to an architect today, he told me that builders and developers had difficulty getting finance and most of them are financed by loans on a preagreed interest rate by rich individuals, providing funds. Though how Covid-19 will play out is the great unknown. Arsenal are well run and timely in any action they take.

For example. Richarlison costs £12.68M per year at the moment (and for the next 3 years). But get him to sign a new contract and from 23-24 season his cost will be reduced by £8M a year as his purchase fee will be fully amortised.

Problem with this strategy is few of the high cost players we (as supporters) would want to give them a renewed contract.

ps: Paul. Can you check the figures. Richarlison has been here 2 years and I thought cost £40M so surely his NBV is £24M?

Who decides these wages? Not having a go at Tom in particular but they seem very excessive, does his agent carry a gun by any chance?

https://www.ToffeeWeb.com/season/20-21/squad.php

And to cheer you up, Dave, next year contacts are ending for
Bolasie*
Besic
Walcott*
Ramirez*
Pennington (was on loan at Hull and not doing well)
Tarashaj (some weird contract stuff)
Connolly (at Fleetwood so will not be kept)
Broadhead (at Burton so will not be kept)
Virginia (disaster at Reading so probably not retained)

So at least another £25m reduction in our losses from 3 of them!

Truth is we could do with another Lukaku or Stones windfall. Plus of course we have some very expensive deadwood. That would allow a bit of a reset and give us the war chest we need.

But I feel every year somehow we spend more than expected, not always wisely but we definitely find a way. I feel we will have good money to spend this year as a fair chunk of annual costs will fall away with some very material contracts coming to an end. It’s easy to budget for the contract and player costs ahead of time and judge how in advance you can set the stall out and buy before you sell.

Everton Lose Out on Sell-on Free for Antonee Robinson

We had a 20% sell-on fee if Wigan sold him for more than the £2 million they paid for him. However, Antonee also has a clause that, if Wigan were relegated, he would leave the club if anyone met a £1.5 million fee, thus excluding Everton from any sell-on bonus above £2 million.

Now, which club could do with a young, cheap, international class left-back cover for Digne at that price..?

He was decent alongside Keane for the second half of his loan, was very average to below average for the first half (alongside the whole backline).

Then, this season, he has proven to be not good enough for Chelsea, culpable to mistakes and overly clumsy.

Taking into consideration that, before he joined us, he spent a season at Stoke who got relegated and were miserable at the back.

So, in 3 seasons in the Premier League, he has had about 12-15 games of consistent form.

I'd rather both Mina and Keane. So Zouma, sorry but not good enough. He was just good cover for Mina when he was injured, nothing more.

I don't know why we weren't or aren't in for Salisu. £11M for him is superb value. Perhaps Todibo on loan or (gulp) Thiago Silva on a free makes more sense for FFP?

Bill needs another night out with Dave Whelan but the mugging needs to be the other way round this time.

So Willian costs Arsenal £10m a year spread over 52 weeks. Okay, a little simplified as there will be a signing-on fee and image rights etc. But basically there is very little initial outlay.

Bolasie, Ramirez, Delph, and Tosun would be my priorities to remove from your table. That would give Brands and Ancelloti between £15 & 16 million in wages for any potential new signings.

I would be surprised if Brands could move Bernard, Sigurdsson, or Walcott in this window because of the wages they are on.

They certainly have got a job on their hands – unless of course they produce some money from another source.

Robinson won't come back, he will go on to greater things.

One player that should definitely be shipped out, and it would represent good business to do so, is Bernard. Signed on a free and on a thick wedge, he doesn't contribute a great deal and is basically an extremely inferior version of Pienaar. At 28 years old, we should maximise his value and take the £10 - 20 million he'd fetch. Roma are supposed to be interested and in my view his absence would barely be noticed.

I'd also happily max the value of Digne. It would be a rare example of us doing business as we should, which is to sign at 20- to 25-year-olds and then sell high. Has he honestly been all that since he's been here? Started great. I thought he was abysmal for large parts of last season. There was a more than reasonable case for him to be dropped.

These days, playing full-back is a young man's game. At 27 years old, he already doesn't have too many seasons of bombing up and down the flank left. It's one of the reasons I was against giving Baines a long-term deal at 29 years old. From here, Digne isn't going to improve too much, if at all, and if offered, we should seriously think about taking £35 - £40 million.

Zouma – is quick and complemented Keane. The team functioned well with him (and Gueye) in it. Whether he's a good partner for Holgate in a team without Gueye, who knows. He's tall and generally more physically imposing than Holgate so maybe. I think Chelsea would sell for about £20M.

Todibo – is a classy footballer. But raw. I did wonder whether the plan would be to use him in midfield (he's played there a bit) with a view to moving him back to defence in a couple of years. But the emergence of Branthwaite may have complicated that.

Not sure either are the perfect partner for Holgate.

You are spot on about Mina. When signed, I noticed the comparatively small number of games he'd played in the previous 3 or 4 seasons. I knew the intensity and number of games in England would come as a shock to his body and he'd get injured. It was nailed on.

He's just too tall and leggy. It's purely an opinion and a personal preference, but I don't like a centre-back to be too tall. Anything over about 6ft-3in leads to problems on the turn, getting moved about, pulled wide and exposed.

Mina was an overly expensive, lazy and complacent post World Cup signing by Brands that didn't provide what we still require at centre-back – physicality and pace on the turn/cover. We then had to get those qualities in on loan in the shape of Zouma. We are yet to resolve this issue.

As long as Keane and Mina are still there, the mix of centre-backs is a problem. One of them needs to go. The upside on Mina is that, due to his age and reasonably high profile in South America, his fee should hold up okay and a Spanish club may take him. But the top and bottom of it is he's injury-prone, not that good, and represents extremely poor value. He should be moved on.

I agree with regarding Mina. He is even lazy in recovery and gets away with it at Everton when the emphasis is on rest. I doubt very much that Mina likes hard training.

Mina was okay in a static defensive system with Schniederlin in front of it and moving up to receive passes across the back unchallenged. His distribution of the ball was good in one point, it highlighted how good Holgate was in comparison. He is always totally exposed on 'turn/cover'.

In Ancelotti's system of playing from the back and pushing into midfield, he is not suitable. He will be reluctant to put the work into recovery prevention where the new emphasis will be, as Ancelotti's placements kick in at Finch Farm. He also likes an extended Summer holiday, which he won't get this Summer.

I think Mina knows the training is going to get harder and that he will be asked to play out of his comfort zone. According to Sam, he has recently changed his agent.

The Russian paymasters would not be literally chucking money at the kind of basket case Esk outlines if they didn't see Everton as the enablers in a quest to own a large portion of Liverpool Docklands.

I suspect that 'they' will be happy if Carlo is able to keep the team in a respectable position in the Premier League in the run-up to completion of Bramley-Moore Dock stadium but will no longer be setting trophies as the prize mark for the Italian's survival. In other words, 'as you were' in days of Moyes, although, in all truth, there is much to be done before we get back to days of sixthish!

Todibo looks very interesting but has played so little and does seem error-prone. I wonder if we might get him on loan like Schalke did. Could be more cost effective.

Or possibly Brands has some options that the media merchants have not guessed at.

I am sure that before he signed Ancelotti would have wanted assurances from the club as to what his transfer kitty would be. As he would have known that this wasn't taking over a club like Chelsea that was full of good players, this was a club that needed a major overhaul.

But I now wonder given our precarious financial position how can the board honour the assurances they gave Ancelotti when he signed. So, if they can't meet those assurances I think Ancelotti may reconsider his position, and the last thing this club needs is to be looking for a new manager, with the knowledge that he will have very little to spend.

I agree about Zouma. In his season with us, he started off poorly and was error-prone, but after he had settled he improved and by the end off the season was playing really well. I am not surprised he has established himself at Chelsea.

Another factor is that he would probably be prepared to come to us unlike Gabriel, Højbjerg and others. We can't attract he top players.

According to Transfermarkt, Mina was injured for around 250 days in the 3 years from July 2016 to May 2019. That doesn't include the several weeks he's been injured this year.

I'd say it's safe to say he's missed nearly a complete year out of the last 4 years through injury, with at least 8 separate injuries.

That does sound 'injury-prone' to me.

In all fairness, we are now tier 2 teams in the Premier League at best. So we have to be pragmatic about our signings. All our targets should be given a timeframe to sign. It may look like shooting ourselves in the foot but at least we can move on quickly.

This article is a very good learning experience and a very sobering insight into the mess we've made in transfers. Many thanks for a very informative read.

Of course these are all rumours, but there is no doubt that we are not attractive to the top players, even if we could afford them. I think we are back to young players with potential this window.

I'd swap Keane for Zouma no problem, we could even make some money doing it. Zouma covered Keane at the end of last season getting him out of a few cock ups.

Zouma alongside Holgate will do me. If we could swap Mina for another decent player, I'd go along with that, especially if it was a good central midfielder coming in.

Right now, I'd swap Mina for Branthwaite. At least we would get more games out of him.

Mina's major contributing factor was he could score goals.

He can't do that from the fitness table.

If Moshiri's trade is to own an asset, Everton Football Club, that will appreciate in value, he still will be able to sell his shares for more than he paid for them. Whilst he has invested a lot of money according to Paul the Esk's figures, it has not been all paid over yet. Meaning he could be still ahead.

On top of that, he is in control, being the anchor tenant of the Peel group development, indirectly, an appreciable asset. The other factor is that he has access to funds on a peer-to-peer bases, that the Peel Group does not have. If an architect I spoke to yesterday is correct in saying that most development funding is peer-to-peer borrowing, more so now because of Covid-19, Moshiri's position is even better.

He also now has a very experienced manager in place who will manage the situation to the level of his considerable ability and make necessary changes, which should at least stabilise things. . . and a Director of Football who can negotiate the players the wants and reduce the effect of those he does not want. Brands is and has been dependent on the manager knowing what he wanted.

In Silva's case he may have known what he wanted, but his standard was not the required Premier League level in tactics or coaching. Moshiri also has Kenwright who may be a good frontman to deal with and bullshit the authorities.

If his trade is, as many of us see it, as the stopping of 20 years decline at Everton and producing a top 4 challenging team, he has failed according to our interpretation of what we see on the pitch and in the accounts.

This would be a disaster if no attempt had been made to progress the team or the new Stadium. But that is not the case.

Mina is only 25. Fitness allowing, I think he's been decent. He's actually one of our few defenders able to pass through the lines (more so than Holgate) and is obviously decent in the air. As Zouma is great in the air but also lightning quick, he'd make a good partner for Mina or Holgate.

Mina is on huge wages though so financially if we got a good offer from a club he was keen on it may make sense.

In my view, he is a more expensive (yearly salary £1 million higher) and lower-quality alternative to Michael Keane. Quicker? More talented? Of course. Superior in the air? No. As consistent and error-free? Not a chance.

If we're gonna sell Keane, buy somebody better. That is not, and never will be, Kurt Zouma. Watch the FA Cup Final again.

I know Mike you do like Mina but I think those that prefer Zouma (like me) like him purely because he allowed us to play a higher line. That's it.

Assuming the good ships Gabriel and Salisu have sailed, we are also linked to Fofana, Disasi and Min Jae. Fofana is a young French prospect. Disasi captained Reims to their excellent defensive record in France last season. Min Jae is a giant South Korean playing in China. Of them, Disasi looks a very good player - quick, strong, mobility and leadership. Min Jae, who knows. Looks great but query the standard.

With the focus being on tall left footers, other options are Diakhate (Mainz) and NDicka (Frankfurt). The former is a young captain. The latter is very young and keeps getting linked to Arsenal. Can also play left-back. Neither as good as Gabriel from what I can see.

There is also Zagadou at Dortmund but I think he might push pineapple shake a tree.

I agree with you regarding Zouma. I was not impressed with his performance in the FA Cup Final. He was easily beaten for the first Arsenal goal and also noticeably looked wildly around him, almost in panic, when he realised he was totally out of position in a few instances.

As Robert says, Zouma allows us to play a higher line and it's not coincidence that our best period as a team in the last 2 years (end of Silva's first season) was when Zouma was established in the team, and we played a higher line.

He's not top class necessarily but he's very quick, very good in the air and though not a leader he does a good job in an organized defence. Plus he knows us and knows the league. I don't see it happening but if it did I'd be confident he'd improve us as a team.

Robert and Sam, agreed on the high line, but my view is that Holgate is swift enough to enable that.

As you said, Moshiri's tenure so far has been a failure on the pitch but I also agree that the stadium development and its importance to the Peel waterfront development offers him another avenue to make money through “peer to peer” lending. He most definitely has access to huge sums of money.

Of course it is all contingent on Everton retaining its Premier League status and probably why, at the first sign of a relegation battle, he has changed managers.

My personal view is that he has steadied the ship with the appointment of Ancelotti – managers are cheaper than players and much much cheaper than relegation.

When the world has recovered from this coronavirus pandemic, I think there will be and tremendous growth and investment and, because the world is the way it is, people with money will make more money.

In the meantime, I am hoping that we will do a lot better than just retain our Premier League status. Ancelotti has stated that Europe is the target. We will know whether that is going to happen by the beginning of January.

It's a unfair world and the rich get richer and the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider, especially in the times we now live in. Moshiri is at the coal face dealing with various businesses that are dealing with the crisis. They are probably less affected by the crisis than the norm.

The actual stadium development isn't, if thought of as a standalone development, given the resources that Moshiri has available to him. It is probably one of the best investment opportunities that Moshiri has at the moment, with pole position on another potential investment.

In another article, Paul the Esk compared the potential effect of the post-Covid-19 crisis on Premier League clubs. Everton ironically were less effected, because their commercial losses were less. The commercial side was smaller than other clubs. . . We would all say neglected and mismanaged. But so much so that Everton do not depend on it. There is a lot of potential for improvement by changing key personnel.

On the playing side, if you were told to get the best proven manager in the world to deal with the deep and complex issues that exist at Everton on the playing side, who would you select? The only other manager I can think of other than Ancelotti, is Alex Feguson and he is not available. The one thing that Ancelotti does know he is going to get paid and paid well. I would go so far as to say his job is secure.

This season is the first season he has been out of the top six in any League he has managed in, during a long career. He is fully aware of the capability of the squad. He has even put them to the test in various scenarios. He has even listened and knows their opinions and attitudes, having been confronted by the more vocal of them after the FA Cup game.

One thing that I have noticed about Ancelotti is there are no hiding places in his team; each individual player is presented with a challenge in his role in the team. The players are left on the pitch to perform for good or bad; changes in the team are always tactical. We are all very aware of the weaknesses in the team.

Ancelotti will be thinking of this Summer as when his project really begins. Transfers are only part of it; coaching and training will have a bigger role in the project. The Everton presented at the start of next season will be fitter and well prepared tactically and technically. They will finish next season in the top six and will challenge in other competitions. If they are to play in Europe, they will have to able to cope with more games. There will be an improvement on the squad potential and finances.

Everton Football Club will become a more valuable asset for Moshiri, with even greater potiential.

If we miss out on Gabriel, as seems very likely, then I can't help feel we may regret the likes of Salisu and Disasi (two excellent defenders) having been sold elsewhere for between £10-15M. Both look very good value to me.

This is the risk of aiming high perhaps; you wait too long for your first choice target and maybe your second and third choice have moved elsewhere.

The Salisu and Disasi deals are not yet confirmed so who knows – we could gazump. It's been done to us.

The frustration is the amount of well-priced players in France especially is astonishing. But I can't recall us tapping into that market. Sam you keep mentioning Sangare for the midfield role. There's also Diallo at Brest who is extremely fast, reads the game well and plays like Kante or Fernandinho. You could probably get both for the suggested fee for Højbjerg.

It's all about the midfield for me. It won't happen but I would gladly sell and replace every one of our midfielders and wingers with the exception of Gomes and Gordon.

After that, we need a left-back as cover for Digne, and someone better than Sidibé to fight with Coleman for the right-back spot.

I agree with what you say, but personally I believe our priority signing should be a striker. I don't think Calvert-Lewin is up to it. He is certainly not consistent and don't think the partnership with Richarlison works either.

I think Carlo has come to the same conclusion and will bring in a striker — the most important position in the team.

I'd be amazed if we bought an experienced striker in like Immobile.

Based on the frequency / credibility of the rumours, CB + CM are the club's priority.

Then it will be probably be one more at RW or RB.

If those 3 signings are of sufficient quality then it will make a huge difference.

Allan, Zouma and Dalot might be underwhelming but would leave us in better shape. Allan, Zouma and Bailey, better still.

The variations seem very likely to be along this theme.

He did himself no favours in not scoring after the lockdown and Carlo leaving him on the bench for the last game was significant.

A good example being the recent FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Arsenal when Aubameyang turned him inside out, simply by sidestepping him before he scored.

We need better than that.

That's what I am hoping for.

As for the distribution of wealth in the world – I have an opinion about that but it's probably a topic best left alone on ToffeeWeb.

Calvert-Lewin is a decent footballer. He did get increasingly worse through the restart games though – as he seemed to abandon the good habits that brought him goals. Consistent failure to attack the near post. However I'm not going to single him out for a lethargy that spread through the whole team. And, as I say, I expect Kean will overtake him at some point in the coming season.

Steve, on Zouma. He is quick. And more agile than Mina and Keane on the turn. Is he Champions League or top 4 quality? Not quite – or at least not consistently. Would he be my first pick? No. Is he the club's first pick? No. Probably about 3rd choice.

Is he low risk (compared to players with no Premier League experience)? Yes. Is he likely to be decent value? Yes. Does he help move the whole team higher up the pitch? Yes.

Hence not being too downbeat about us signing Zouma. Just underwhelmed.

Priority is definitely central midfield. And Brands is on record as saying the right side needs strengthening. Walcott is our only right-winger.

I'd predict we will definitely sign a central midfielder. Almost certainly sign a centre-back. And then either a right-winger or, if one fails to materialize, then a centre-forward with Richarlison moving to the right.

It isn't that he is a massive upgrade per se but his relative pace does allow us to play a higher line which is needed – we do need to get more players into the box from the midfield when attacking.

Plenty of mid-table teams would be happy to have him I am sure.

Isn't the current Everton team a mid-table side – and has been for a good few seasons? Any player who arrives from elsewhere has to be better than we already have.

Zouma is about the same as we already have in the squad so there's little point in splashing too much on his recruitment and wages. If he was to arrive for the right price and wages, then fine if that's what Carlo wants.

If we think that we're going to see a transformation from mid-table to European challengers overnight, we're going to need a mega window and a great deal of luck.

Keane will only be sold to another Premier League club. Palace? Saints? West Ham? Villa? Newcastle?

I'd rather keep him.

As has been said, Zouma is a safe bet. Zouma, Keane, and Holgate can play and also compliment each other. With Branthwaite and Gibson pressing for games, the centre-back situation looks much stronger.

I think Mina is a good player, but perhaps would be more suited to a continental league.

Somebody blamed him for Arsenal's first goal as well, it was a penalty and Zouma had nothing to do with that either.

I agree reference the distribution of wealth. It was the architect I talked to brought it up and I added it in to stress a different perspective. I admire people who overcome struggle, rather than those that need the boost of wealth. I brought my family up to think that way, makes life more exciting.

The first Arsenal goal from open play.

They are all gung-ho with plenty of midfield players in or around the box, leaving themselves wide open to be hit on the break and therefore leaving their centre-backs open to players running at them or behind them.

I think Carlo is much more pragmatic than Lampard and would instill a better sense of defending.

Whilst I would be happy to get Zouma as an upgrade on Keane or MIna I think Ruttiger is a much better all-round centre-back and he would be my preference if we can persuade him to come.

Big Yerry looks cumbersome. He's fast, but he takes 2-3 strides to get up to top gear. He also fancies himself as a bit of a hard man, which breaks his concentration, but he does position himself well. He can pass a ball and, if he can improve his heading, he wins more in the air in the opposition box than any player we've had since Tim Cahill.

I haven't completely given up on him... yet.

That said, with a good run of matches and better luck with injuries he could well be a marginally better all round player than Zouma. Unfortunately, that looks like it may never happen.

Apparently they have put their whole defence up for sale, including Zouma and Ruttiger.

Shocking though it may seem, it is true (allegedly).

He's 26 next month. He should be just about approaching his prime. Big, big season coming up for Big Yerry.

He's annoying at times, but he is very easy to like and it would be great if he could use next season as his platform for having 5-6 seasons playing at the top of his game for us.

It seems that the penalties don't appear to fit the 'crime' and it is a fine way for UEFA to make some extra money too. The price of an average player and a couple of players short in the squad doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent to me, however, the rule of not making an aggregate loss of more than £30m over a three year period also seems to be very restrictive too.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have been fined and slapped with a squad limit in European competition next season after breaching FFP rules, it has been revealed. Wolves have been ordered to stump up €200,000 for contravening profitability and sustainability rules.

UEFA say the fine will rise by a further €400,000 if the club does not get its finances in order by the year ending 2021. Wolves have also been told it will have to stick to a 23-man squad cap, rather 25, if the club qualifies for next season's Champions League, by winning the Europa League later this month.
Related Articles They must also comply with a set spending pattern after reaching a settlement with UEFA.

UEFA's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) Adjudicatory Chamber said the club must 'report a maximum break-even deficit of €30 million (£27 million) in the financial year ending 2020'.

The club has pledged to record 'an aggregate break-even result' for the financial years ending in 2019, 2020 and 2021, in accordance with UEFA's directive. And it has also vowed that for 'the financial year ending in 2020, its employee benefits expenses are restricted', the Chamber said.

The fine and squad cap will not be viewed as too debilitating by the Wolves hierarchy. The real issue is how the £27 million losses Wolves are restricted to in the 2020-21 season, impact on the club's transfer budget and approach to the summer window.

As perilous as the situation has become for UEFA to take this step, it's thought the club is on relatively strong financial footing having reportedly made a £20 million profit last season despite spending big.

FFP rules vary across different leagues and competitions, with the Premier League adopting a very different policy on spending to the English Football League. UEFA's interpretation is to 'prohibit clubs from making an aggregate loss in excess of €30 million over three seasons'.

The application and enforcement of these rules is the responsibility of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body, which can 'impose a wide range of penalties for non-compliance, including bans from European competitions', with final decisions of the CFCB appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.

I suspect the real action will start later next week when most of the players will be back (on their private jets) from their jollies.

FFP is a joke – especially now in these troubled times.

It probably had good intentions when it was initially thought about but since it's inception, like VAR, has been open to interpretation.

Amazing to see posters giving players leeway and not the manager? Strange?

I think clubs should be allowed to spend whatever they like, my only stipulation is they should have to agree to a bond were whatever they spend does not threaten the existence of their club. So the owner would be solely liable to repay the bond to the club should his spending put the club in financial difficulty.

Also, surely it is morally indefensible for a club to lay off 55 members of staff, yet still raise the already inflated salaries of footballers.

Should government intervene if clubs who applied for Covid-19 business relief then go out and spend millions on new players? Should they not have to repay that funding first?