Four days of fury: 96 hours in which TFG lost trust at Everton

This isn’t an overreaction. This isn’t hyperbole. This isn’t knee-jerk.

A day or so on from a calamitous end to Everton’s ill-thought out, poorly planned and badly executed transfer window, most fans have probably started to calm down, but that’s not to say the anger is any less palpable.

And while the entire transfer window, and the approach to it, deserves to be looked into as one big mess, there is also a fair argument to say that really, it all boiled down to four disastrous days right at the end.

In the space of those four days, The Friedkin Group, Angus Kinnear and his fellow team of “experts”, have lost any credit or trust they had from the fanbase. 

Here’s how it all played out.

DAY ONE: SATURDAY, AUGUST 29TH

Everton’s 96 hours of turmoil began on Saturday, as news broke that Nottingham Forest had lodged a bid for Harrison Armstrong.

That bid should have been rejected out of hand, but instead, Everton were considering it.

Speculation swirled that Armstrong would be left out of the squad to face Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.

In the end, the 19-year-old started, and played well in a respectable 1-1 draw at the Vitality Stadium, where the traveling fans sang their hearts out and made it clear to the club’s leadership — this kid should not be for sale.

Still, as of Saturday evening, Everton were advancing in talks with Forest over a deal worth around £40m. The bid had all but been accepted, now it was just a matter of fine-tuning the payment structure between the clubs and then, crucially, the player deciding on the move.

Armstrong had not pushed for it, and neither had his agency, though they had negotiated a hefty pay increase should the move go ahead.

Oh, and let’s not forget, early rumours began that Everton had agreed personal terms with Kenny Tete — the Fulham full-back who, in 2025, had been on the verge of a move to the club but then decided to sign a new contract at Craven Cottage, instead.

DAY TWO: SUNDAY, AUGUST 30TH

Sunday, mid-morning. The reputable John Percy of The Telegraph reports that Everton had pulled out of the Armstrong deal.

Soon, others follow suit. The move is off. The fans have won. Armstrong is staying put.

It swiftly emerged that Dan Friedkin himself had stepped in. The issue is, it is Dan Friedkin himself, or, at least, those involved at the TFG level — and not their “local team”, led by Kinnear — that had made the decision to cash in on Armstrong in the first place.

Good news, but there wasn’t really any time for an inquiry, because within an hour, news filtered through that Everton and Tottenham had agreed a deal in principle for Iliman Ndiaye. The transfer was worth £60M and the Toffees were also in talks to bring back former fan favourite Richarlison from Spurs.

An hour later, and the Richarlison fee was made public by Paul Joyce and then The Bobble — a total deal worth up to £35M, albeit the up front payment was set to be £25M.

There was understandable concern at the amount Everton would be paying for a 29-year-old with plenty of injury issues, while Spurs seemed to be getting Ndiaye at a knockdown price.

It was becoming abundantly clear — Everton needed a big sale, and they were getting desperate.

The Tete deal was also on, and by the end of the day, all that seemed to stand in the way of Ndiaye going to Spurs and Richarlison returning to Everton were the latter’s personal terms.

Oh, and Adam Aznou joined Malaga on loan to get some much-needed gametime. 

DAY THREE: MONDAY, AUGUST 31ST

It wasn’t a slow Bank Holiday Monday for the Toffees. Far from it.

Everton had agreed a fee of roughly £9M with Fulham to sign Tete, who was expected to be granted permission to travel north for a medical.

Ndiaye’s move to Spurs was still on, but the Richarlison transfer to Everton was held up.

The Bobble reported that the issue was on Spurs’ end, with Richarlison’s camp demanding loyalty payments be made to the Brazilian, who would be taking a wage cut to come to Everton.

This was then all but confirmed by Richarlison, who remarkably took to social media and hit out at Spurs, insisting he would have happily returned to his “beloved” Everton, but he wanted what he was owed by Tottenham.

By the evening, that move was very much on ice, and in the meantime, Manchester City pounced on Ndiaye. With their approach for Cody Gakpo rebuffed by Liverpool, Man City pivoted back to Ndiaye, and a deal worth up to £65M was swiftly struck with Everton.

Disappointing, but better than the offer on the table from Spurs, while Jack Grealish’s loan move back to the Toffees was advancing, and Everton looked set to reinvest some of the Ndiaye fee into a deal for Folarin Balagoun.

It was scattergun, but it was at least exciting, as it was soon confirmed that Everton and Monaco had agreed a fee of around £35M, plus add-ons. A steep fee, but a quality player and a welcome addition to the forward line.

Beto was on his way to Fiorentina, and Hull City had come back in for Tim Iroegbunam. Things were moving fast but Everton looked in a strong position, even if their targets seemed to be rather random, heading into deadline day.

DAY FOUR: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST

Everton’s position of strength going into deadline day was relatively refreshing. Yes, players were heading out, but they looked set to be bringing three in, and possibly a fourth.

But this day was the worst of them all.

By lunchtime, Balogun had landed for his medical, while Grealish’s was already well under way — great news. There was talk the Tete deal was off, though, and those rumours were firmed up when it was confirmed that Everton had bid £4M for Lyon’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles. That offer was accepted by the French club.

A quiet afternoon followed, but Nathan Patterson was in Turin to complete a permanent move to Torino, while Beto was at Fiorentina to complete the formalities of his exit. Iroegbunam was having his medical at Hull. All on track.

By early evening, Beto had gone — £15M in the bank. Then, it was Patterson, with a fantastic sign off message in which he poked fun at David Moyes’ slip of the tongue from a few weeks ago.

But then, it all started getting silly.

Reports from France claimed Balogun had failed his medical. Those rumours were soon firmed up by the press in England, albeit The Bobble did cite it as an “issue with the medical”, rather than a guaranteed fail.

Ndiaye’s departure to Man City was confirmed, but the drama was all at Everton, who were frantically scrapping around for an alternative option to Balogun.

They offered a £10M package to take Joshua Zirkzee on loan from Manchester United, but that was rejected by the Red Devils. There was even talk of a last-gasp push for Chris Wood. What in the world was going on?

Amid the furore and panic, Everton announced Grealish’s return. Great, but nobody cared! Classic Everton, holding and holding it back until late in the window when everyone was so riled up, and there were so many twists and turns.

And then, another twist! Balogun’s deal was back on — Everton and Monaco had been able to renegotiate some of the payment structure and a dealsheet was submitted. All parties were working towards a deal.

Somehow, it looked as though Everton would get away with it. A thorough assessment of the window would still need to take place, but there would be a positive end, with a genuine improvement coming into the squad for Beto.

Maitland-Niles’ transfer was also confirmed, shortly after midnight — a right-back through the door, albeit there is no chance that he is the right-back Everton wanted and Kinnear bullishly claimed they could get just two weeks ago.

But then, the last turn. Balogun had decided not to sign the contract on offer. It was subsequently claimed, by Monaco’s CEO, that the United States forward felt harshly treated by Everton, who it seems fairly obvious, had used a small medical concern as a way to renegotiate.

And that was the final nail in the coffin. For TFG, for Kinnear, for his fabled transfer committee. 

Everton finished the window, arguably, worse off than when they went into it. On deadline day, they brought in around £100M, and spent around £15M, when including the loan package for Grealish, while also, frankly, making themselves look like complete amateurs.

AND NOW…

In the space of four turbulent days, TFG has lost any trust they had from this fanbase. They are now under increasing media scrutiny, but do they care? Dan Friedkin, or his son, Ryan, are yet to attend an Everton game. In the time they have owned the club, Everton have moved grounds — it’s disgusting.

As for Kinnear and his band of merry men, they look like fools, and frankly, they have acted like fools, too. Moyes is not blameless in all this, either, but he is now the one with the challenge of rallying a small squad, with just one striker and only two out-and-out full-backs, for at least half a season.

Of course, Everton being Everton, it was heads in the sand on Wednesday. Monaco are the ones that got on the front foot and got their narrative out there. Everton thought photos of Grealish at Finch Farm and an interview with Maitland-Niles would suffice.

Let’s see what the rest of the week brings, but there’s no doubt, those four days, TFG and the leadership team they employ, did their very best to burn it all down.

Reader Comments (12)

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 ()

How to get rid of these ads and support TW