Seasons2020-21Everton News
Sandro leaves Everton for Huesca

The former Barcelona striker was signed amid much optimism in 2017 after a scintillating season in La Liga with Malaga but he was unable to replicate the goalscoring form he exhibited in 2016-17 at Goodison Park.
He managed just seven starts and eight appearances overall in what was a difficult first season at Everton under Ronald Koeman's failing tenure and he was sent out on loan to Seville and then to Real Sociedad and Valladolid over the next three seasons where he managed four goals in 61 games.
Entering the final year of his contract this season, Everton had drawn up plans to terminate his contract and it is likely that he has left the Blues for Huesca for no fee but his reported £65,000-a-week salary is off the books.
He has signed a three-year contract at his new club who were promoted back to Spain's top flight earlier this year.
Reader Comments (63)
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer
2 Posted 05/10/2020 at 23:29:27
3 Posted 05/10/2020 at 23:32:40
4 Posted 05/10/2020 at 23:36:20
The hype was incredible. People on here apoplectic that there were delays in the signing. "We'll lose him, just stop effing about and get him signed...".
So often a futile business, this predicting and believing malarkey.
5 Posted 05/10/2020 at 23:47:57
6 Posted 05/10/2020 at 23:49:40
7 Posted 05/10/2020 at 23:52:20
8 Posted 05/10/2020 at 23:55:53
9 Posted 05/10/2020 at 23:57:00
Iwobi has gone past him in recent weeks. With the young lads also giving cover in that role he could be kicking his heels.
Besic and Bolasie may well get moves to the EFL, but only if we do what we've done with Walcott. Even then it will reduce the wage bill.
All in all a good time to be a blue.
10 Posted 06/10/2020 at 00:08:11
11 Posted 06/10/2020 at 00:10:18
12 Posted 06/10/2020 at 00:14:00
13 Posted 06/10/2020 at 00:18:15
He may even have taken a slight drop depending on his desire to play regularly, as one factor.
14 Posted 06/10/2020 at 00:20:17
15 Posted 06/10/2020 at 00:22:48
16 Posted 06/10/2020 at 00:23:04
So say if his contract with Huesca is £30,000 per week, then maybe we had to pay 40 x £35,000 (£65k minus £30k) - so ultimately taking a fraction of the financial hit on his remaining contract rather than the full whack. A bit like we've done by paying half of Walcott's wages during his Southampton loan.
17 Posted 06/10/2020 at 00:26:20
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I don't remember anyone unhappy when we signed him and we, Everton and him, have been affected by him not being able to make it with us.
It turns out to be a bad buy – all of us have suffered.
18 Posted 06/10/2020 at 00:28:12
19 Posted 06/10/2020 at 00:31:25
20 Posted 06/10/2020 at 00:33:28
Well nobody knows for sure at the moment but common sense would tend towards Huesca.
If Everton were going to pay them then why would they let him play for someone else?
I would imagine it would be a case of "Sandro, you can stay here on £65k a week and not play one game of football or you can go to Huesca and play for them for whatever they're gonna pay you."
21 Posted 06/10/2020 at 01:04:36
La Liga isn't top to bottom near as tough as England's top league. Across Europe, though, the toughest league after the Premier League.
Sandro scored 14 goals in 30 there as a 21-year old. It was perfectly reasonable to see him as a legit prospect and fine signing.
Then nothing. Nothing. If "shit happens", it happened to us.
So, I'll choose to remember him for freezing a defender long enough to create a moment's time for Calvert-Lewin to send that cross into Rooney to score the header against Stoke.
22 Posted 06/10/2020 at 01:09:32
23 Posted 06/10/2020 at 01:13:02
24 Posted 06/10/2020 at 01:27:22
Huesca may also contractually hold any value in the player such as it is, should they ever sell him on. Alternatively, they are paying him less per week but the contract may be such that he could eventually leave and be entitled to a part of the selling fee. Many alternatives.
25 Posted 06/10/2020 at 01:28:42
26 Posted 06/10/2020 at 01:29:14
27 Posted 06/10/2020 at 01:30:19
28 Posted 06/10/2020 at 01:49:52
From what we saw, he was never good enough but that's with hindsight. I didn't particularly see a lack of effort when he was on the pitch.
So good luck, Sandro. Not the first transfer to not work out.
29 Posted 06/10/2020 at 02:30:54
James#21, not the strangest of signings, that has to be Shani Tarashaj. Still on our books, still being paid £10k a week by us, still has another 12 months left on his contract, never kicked a ball in anger for us, now playing for FC Emmen reserves. Never understood why a similar deal hasn't been done with him.
30 Posted 06/10/2020 at 03:32:34
31 Posted 06/10/2020 at 05:05:47
32 Posted 06/10/2020 at 05:07:09
His transfer has scarred me. I'll never believe any hype again.
33 Posted 06/10/2020 at 05:51:11
Why would we have to pay off his contract?
He's moved on a permanent transfer of his own free will. He's not ours anymore. We don't pay his salary now; Huesca do.
'Brian, who pays the wages of £5m for the coming season? The transfer is lacking in the detail'
He doesn't get £5 million for the coming season from us. His contract is no more, it's He gets whatever he agreed with Huesca. He has a new three-year contract with them.
Or, did we agree to give him £5 million in wages to get him off our wage books?
34 Posted 06/10/2020 at 07:37:18
All the best to the lad, he didn't ask to be transferred did he? He was head-hunted by Walsh under the auspices of Koeman, what a pair!
Unbelievably Koeman is now Manager of Barcelona after multiple displays of incompetence, and millions in compensation, it beggars belief.
35 Posted 06/10/2020 at 09:08:58
36 Posted 06/10/2020 at 09:54:35
Let's agree never to speak of Sandro again ever!
37 Posted 06/10/2020 at 09:56:14
38 Posted 06/10/2020 at 09:57:08
39 Posted 06/10/2020 at 09:58:58
40 Posted 06/10/2020 at 10:07:46
Relieved that Walcott and Sandro have gone today, big wages off the books, well done to Brands. Hopefully Bolaise and Besic can find a club in the Championship in the next 11 days. They fall into the same category.
41 Posted 06/10/2020 at 10:14:57
We could all see that Sandro and Klaassen were not robust enough for the Premier League. Everyone could see that the crazy acquisition of three number 10s was without any logic or plan. Whatever went on with the Italy trip made by Walsh and “his team” allegedly to buy players yet they returned empty-handed.
Kids in a sweatshop comes to mind the way they squandered Farhads money buying players without a plan and paying ridiculous salaries for long contracts.
Happily Carlo seems to have a very specific plan which so far is working really well. I wish Sandro good luck but my, how he must love us for setting him up for life!
42 Posted 06/10/2020 at 10:16:05
43 Posted 06/10/2020 at 10:43:58
Huesca pay his wages plus give him a contract term plus a signing on fee.
Player benefits by continuing to be paid a kings ransom.
Everton benefit by losing his wages.
Huesca get a player with a registration value paid for in signing on and wages only on the never never.
Why would he leave? Because of the extension. Why wouldnt someone wait until his contract expired? Because they need him now. Why wouldnt he see out his contract? Because he wants to play football and because his term is extended.
So why would we have to pay anything?
44 Posted 06/10/2020 at 11:00:05
45 Posted 06/10/2020 at 11:00:24
46 Posted 06/10/2020 at 11:48:09
47 Posted 06/10/2020 at 12:17:45
Different regime and mindset now. Owner who isn't afraid to put his hand in his pocket. New ground on the horizon. Great times ahead.
48 Posted 06/10/2020 at 12:29:29
Schneiderlin, Walcott, Sandro, Kean (loan) were big earners, £300k pw there and have gone. Bolaise, Besic, Pennington, Lössl in the next 11 days, then Cenk in January, another £200k pw saved to help balance the books.
49 Posted 06/10/2020 at 12:30:31
50 Posted 06/10/2020 at 12:33:24
Brands wasn't here when Walcott was signed.
51 Posted 06/10/2020 at 12:52:28
Whilst not their best player or an out-and-out striker he certainly put a lot of graft in. He played left wing, closed down well, made lots of good forward runs.
He reminded me of Naismith. A good player but lacked the pace or skill to be top level. It was a free transfer that certainly made sense at the time.
I'm surprised he hasn't developed or seen to be good enough to sell for a few million to cover his wages but that's the risk with young footballers. Most never fulfill the potential that fans hope, wish and dream they will.
52 Posted 06/10/2020 at 14:53:14
It felt like 3 people living in the same house all went to the shops without talking to each other about what was needed first.
Walsh went out and brought back a random collection of players with no consideration of how they would form a team. Like that person in the sales who just buys shit they don't really need or knows what they'll do with it but hell, they've got money and it looks like a good bargain. Even though really you're getting ripped off as it's the shit they roll out from the back storage room once a year because they normally wouldn't show it.
Koeman bought Klaassen because he was Dutch and done well for Ajax (I actually thought there was a player in Klaassen to be honest).
And Blue Bill got all sentimental and brought "Our Wayne" back home even though his top flight legs were long gone.
Okay, tongue in cheek and no research whatsoever in that, just what it felt like. Ultimately, the most disjointed and ill thought out transfer policy I've seen us have and it wasn't like we didn't have the money for once after such a long period of looking down the back of the couch for the Arteta money.
53 Posted 06/10/2020 at 15:03:06
Let's be honest: if either of them were really that good, Arsenal and Juventus would never have got rid of them in the first place. If you want to buy potential look at your youth team recruitment, and don't buy players who don't want to play for EFC (Kean).
54 Posted 06/10/2020 at 15:10:30
I remember being excited to wonder how the mastermind Koeman was going to fit his jigsaw puzzle together.
Only to realize in horror that he had no idea! Three No 10s and no pace.
55 Posted 06/10/2020 at 16:18:22
56 Posted 06/10/2020 at 16:20:02
57 Posted 06/10/2020 at 16:25:13
I think Davy just has a very peculiar skillset and that this was not suited to the way Everton played. He needs the ball to be moving at speed, and players pinging it about with one-touch passes. Cruyff was particularly impressed with Davy's ability to control the ball whilst running at full speed. We never saw an example of that at Everton as every pass was under-hit and rolled into his foot rather than was to be taken in his stride. He was just a very bad fit, and we made him look far worse than he was.
Let's see how he gets on back "home" at Ajax, but an Ajax without some of his old mates, particularly Ziyech, who made him look so good.
58 Posted 06/10/2020 at 16:45:25
59 Posted 06/10/2020 at 17:48:07
I always like the speed of his brain and decision-making. But for that, he needs the ball into him early (and feet not space) and also players making the right runs for a first-time pass. As you say, we made him look worse as we didn't have an awful lot of either going on.
I watched Werder Bremen a couple of times last season and it was interesting seeing the difference in him. Way more influential than when playing for us. Combination of the style of play and the players around him I suppose. But back to your point, he is a good player, just wasn't a fit for Everton at that point in time.
60 Posted 06/10/2020 at 20:47:04
I note Niasse is still a free agent, after being released in June... are we short of a striker?
61 Posted 06/10/2020 at 21:09:54
62 Posted 06/10/2020 at 21:15:20
I some times wonder if Steve Walsh was watching a different player as Sandro looked lost from Day 1. Aside from the goal vs Atlanta, that's about it.
At last, the club is showing some business ruthlessness, and hopefully they'll be more driftwood to go in January 2021.
63 Posted 11/10/2020 at 00:32:27
Add Your Comments
In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.
Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.
1 Posted 05/10/2020 at 23:13:23
Great news all round, now for Josh King as back up