Is an attitude shift needed for Everton in the transfer market?

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

In September 2020, Brighton paid just £1.8M for Jan Paul van Hecke, a 20-year-old centre-back from NAC Breda.

Van Hecke was swiftly sent out on loan to Heerenveen, where he spent the full season. Then, he was loaned out to Blackburn Rovers for the 2021-22 campaign.

Brighton followed a plan, and by the time Van Hecke returned to the club ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, he had two years of regular minutes under his belt.

Then, over the course of the past four campaigns, he gradually became a mainstay in the heart of Brighton’s backline. 

Now, he’s at the World Cup, representing the Netherlands, having just completed a move to Tottenham in a deal reportedly worth £52M.

It’s a classic example of “the Brighton model” working as it has done for years. Buy low — in this case, very low — and sell high.

And that is a model that plenty of Evertonians want Everton to follow.

The question is, if Everton are to follow that model, or to at least take a pinch of it and try to mould it into something of their own, then does the attitude of the fanbase need to change?

Evertonians do not want to see the Toffees be a selling club; they do not want their best players to leave. In fairness, which fanbase truly does? 

The evidence has been in the reaction to the stories around Iliman Ndiaye.

While Ndiaye has not informed the club of his desire to leave, he — or more specifically, his representatives — have rejected multiple contract offers. He’s now at the World Cup with Senegal, and has three years left on his deal at Everton, who hold the cards.

Ndiaye has also spoken of his desire to play in the Champions League, but that is no bad thing — players should have ambition; ideally, those ambitions would be fulfilled here.

However, the reaction has mainly been to either criticise Ndiaye or, mainly, to criticise Everton.

And therein shows the big difference between Everton, and the likes of Brighton and Bournemouth and Brentford.

Their fans have evidence that they can trust the process. They have seen their clubs sell on talent and replace them effectively and efficiently, and hire managers to ensure their teams keep on overperforming beyond their budget.

But, those clubs are smaller, and frankly, there just is not the same pressure there as there is at a club like Everton.

Evertonians have been left scarred by years of “sell to buy”. And inevitably, when the club’s better players have been sold, they have been replaced inadequately.

But TFG and, it seems, most fans, want Everton to become more sustainable by investing in players at a lower value, developing those players and selling them on for a healthy profit.

The rumours are Everton would be looking at close to £60M for Ndiaye as a starting point.

That would represent a brilliant return on an initial £15M investment, and it’s those kinds of deals Everton should absolutely be making.

In this writer’s opinion, there is still too much of a focus on youth, both in the fanbase and at the club. 

Instead, the focus should be on value. Ndiaye was 24 when he joined Everton, with experience of playing at one of France’s biggest clubs, but also in England. The ideal mix, at an ideal age — someone ready to hit the ground running, but at a low fee.

Picking up those kinds of players, and getting 2-3 positive seasons out of them before potentially selling them on, is probably the best way forward for the time being.

It doesn’t mean we should like it, but the hope is if you do that well, then a team of Everton’s stature could close the gap to the elite, and once a couple of seasons have passed, suddenly it becomes much easier to keep those higher calibre players.

It’s a fine balance, and it’s easier said than done, but patience will be required, and perhaps, a bit of a shift in mentality.

Yes, “selling to buy” is never nice, and it’s never nice to see better players leave, but if you can treble or even quadruple the initial fee paid out, it is just good business.

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