Marks on a Window...

Mohamed Besic
Signed by Roberto Martinez after he marked Lionel Messi out of the game when playing for Bosnia against Argentina at the 2014 World Cup, it has never worked out for Besic at Everton, with a serious injury also stalling his Blues career. Loan spells have not led to any permanent move and it seems Besic is destined to be a player it is impossible to move on permanently. Now sent to newly-promoted Sheffield United on a season-long loan, with a bit of luck, he may impress enough for them to take him permanently... but I would not bet on it. At least he is out of the squad for the forthcoming season.
Mark: 10

Josh Bowler
Winger Josh Bowler joined Everton from Queens Park Rangers in July 2017, at the age of 18, penning a 3-year deal. Originally struggling at Under-23 level, by the end of that season, Bowler was starting to show the promise the Club had seen when he was originally signed. Bowler performed better last season, and was a major reason the Club claimed a League and Cup Under-23 double.

Bowler also showed some good flashes in the friendly against Karabangi Sharks in the pre-season game in Kenya. Bowler has gone on loan to Hull City for the 2019-20 season while also signing a one-year contract extension. This is a good move for Bowler and, if he is to have any chance at the Blues, he must grasp a first-team place at Hull and perform well in the new season.
Mark: 10

Nathan Broadhead
21-year-old Broadhead was voted Under-23s player of the season in 2018-19. He made some impression in the first few pre-season games before fading in later games. The reporting and hype around his pre-season performances were, to say the least, a bit over the top. The only Under-23 player who stood out during the pre-season in any great degree was centre-back Lewis Gibson.

Broadhead has now signed a new contract keeping him at the Blues until June 2021 and has also gone to League One Burton Albion on loan for the 2019-20 season. This needs to be the break-out season for Broadhead if he is to make the grade at Everton. I personally have my doubts and think Josh Bowler is ahead of him in the winger stakes. I would have looked to try and cash in on Broadhead with a lower-league club rather than giving him a new contract and sending him out on loan.
Mark: 5

Kieran Dowell
When David Unsworth gave a number of youngsters a start in the final game of the 2015-16 season against Norwich City, the player most Blues were looking forward to seeing was Kieran Dowell. A player with a great left foot and shot, Dowell has had chances in pre-season and cup games since that Norwich City debut.

At no time since has Dowell shown he has what it takes to become a Toffees first-team player. Loan spells have followed in the Championship at both Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United where, after starting well at both clubs, Dowell eventually ended up on the bench. Another season-long loan now beckons for Dowell again in the Championship with Derby County.

He is clearly a player with talent but his time and chance at Everton is surely up. He really should have been moved on as another season in the Championship, which is increasingly looking like his level, will not increase his chances at the Blues; in my view, he has none.
Mark: 2

Luke Garbutt
Left-back Garbutt seemed to have a bright future when he broke into the first team for a few games during the 2014-15 season, with an especially eye-catching performance in the 2-0 Europa League group stage win at Wolfsburg. But, after that bright start, it has all been downhill. Loan moves, spells back at the Under-23s and injuries have been Garbutt's tale of woe.

Last season, he had a season-long loan at Oxford United who seemed interested in signing him permanently during the early part of the window but nothing came from this. He has now moved on a season-long loan to League One Ipswich Town. League One is now the level for Garbutt and his contract will be up at the end of the loan so a good deal all round.
Mark: 10

Jonjoe Kenny
Kenny has gone to the Bundesliga, joining Schalke on a season-long loan. Part of the Under-23 team which won the PL2 title in 2016-17 and also the part of the large Everton contingent which won the Under 20 World Cup with England in 2017, the future was originally looking bright for Kenny. Although having chances with the first team, especially during the long absence of Seamus Coleman, Kenny has never fully impressed.

A competent right-back, he has been unable to dislodge Seamus Coleman as first-choice right-back. At 22 years of age, it is coming to make-or-break time for Kenny. A good season in Gelsenkirchen may help him show his abilities to future employers but I think the club should have really tried to move him on permanently in the window.
Mark: 5

Matthew Pennington
Absurdly given a 1-year contract extension a couple of seasons ago, centre-back Pennington is contracted to the Club until 2021. Pennington has made 7 first team appearances for Everton and always looked out of place in the first team. While at the Blues, Pennington has had two loan spells at Prenton Park with Tranmere Rovers, as well as loans at Walsall, Coventry City, Leeds United and last season Ipswich Town.

Now Pennington has signed a season-long loan at Championship Hull City. Pennington has done well in the lower leagues in his many loan moves. Everton should surly have tried harder to move him on. Basically, we should just have taken anything we could get for him. Another loan move in the end does no good for Pennington and is no good to the Blues. He is someone we really should and probably could have moved on.
Mark: 2

Sandro Ramirez
Signed in the summer of 2017 from Malaga for £5.2 million, striker Ramirez was considered a traasfer coup for the Blues with a number of other teams, especially Atletico Madrid, chasing his signature. This was a gamble which was well wide of the mark. Never up to the demands of the Premier League, he was shipped out to Seville in January 2018 and failed to find the net during his 6-month stay back in his homeland.

Last season, he went to Real Sociedad, where he failed to find the net during the whole season on loan. He has now gone to Real Valladolid on loan for the 2019-20 season. Sandro was a one-season wonder whom the Blues took a punt on. With two more years left on his contract and on ridiculous wages from the largesse of the Koeman - Walsh era, it seems loans are the best we will get until his contract has run down and we can finally say goodbye to this flop.
Mark: 10

Shani Tarashaj
Most Evertonians will have forgotten all about Tarashaj: out of sight, out of mind. Signed under Martinez as a supposed hot young prospect, his move has been a total failure. Loan spells at Eintracht Frankfurt and back home in Switzerland with Grasshoppers Zurich, the team he was originaly signed from, have both been equally disastrous.

Tarashaj has now joined Dutch Eredivisie outfit FC Emmen on a two-season loan, where he will be as useless as his whole career has been since his €4 million move to the Blues. Clearly a player we had no chance of moving on permanently, a two-season loan will see Tarashaj to the end of his contract and he will be gone and quickly forgotten.
Mark: 10

Joà¢o Virginia
Portuguese goalkeeper Joao Virginia signed for Everton from Arsenal in August 2018 and was a double winner with the Club's Under-23s in his debut campaign. Virginia was part of the Portugal side that beat Italy in the Under-19 European Championship final in Finland in July 2018 and played for Portugal at this summer's Under-21 World Cup.

A player who is highly thought of at Everton and has a very bright future. He has outgrown the Under-23s after just one season but is clearly not yet ready to challenge Jordan Pickford. The season-long loan at Championship Reading is a fantastic opportunity for Virgà­nia to gain hopefully a full season of first-team football which will accelerate his development and hopefully he comes back to Everton next season ready to be part of the first-team squad.
Mark: 10

Players Leaving Everton

Brendan Galloway
It all seemed so bright for Galloway when he got the nod over Luke Garbutt in the last game of the 2014-15 season at West Ham United. He played a number of games the following season and seemed to be progressing well. Then came the disaster of a season-long loan to West Brom, where he could not get into the team. This was followed up by another awful period on loan at Sunderland. A number of injuries have not helped Galloway either.

Still only 22, he played with the Under-23s last season, winning a League and Cup double. But his time was clearly up at Everton following his disastrous loan spells. Last season, he was actually blocking a spot for another young player in the Under-23s team. The Club have now ended his contract and allowed him to join Luton Town on a free transfer. The right decision and hopefully Galloway can rebuild his career at Luton.
Mark: 10

Once PSG came calling in January, it was probably on the cards that a move was likely to happen during this window. The Toffees have recouped £28 million from the sale of Gana, a tidy profit on a player who will be 30 later this year. I think we could have squeezed a bit more out of PSG for Gana but it was obvious he was going to leave once they came back for him. But just the same, a big blow to the Club.
Mark: 7

Ademola Lookman
'Enigma' is the word to use for Lookman's time at the Blues. He showed odd flashes of the player he could be, but it just never happened for him. Brought in for £11 million by Steve Walsh from Charlton Athletic, everyone remembers the debut goal when he came on late in the 4-0 demolition of Manchester City in Koeman's first season.

Following that City win, Lookman was around the first team for the next month until a game which he started at Middlesbrough. He had two good chances in that game, missed both, and then was bombed by Koeman. Confidence shattered, he never seemed to get any real chance at the Club following that game, while rumours circulated that he was homesick and never really settled in the North-West.

A talented player who, when first-team chances came his way, never grasped them. He could show real skill one moment and then nothing the next. A good six-month loan spell at RB Leipzig seemed to point to him moving to Germany permanently. But Marco Silva was adamant he wanted him at the Club last season. Lookman never repaid the faith Silva had in him last season, with the following quote from Silva being a damning verdict on Lookman:

“I keep believing 100% in his quality as a football player, there are no doubts about that, but what I want to see coming from him is the same desire, coming from him each day, to achieve that, to reach that level that he wants and the level I believe he can play at.”

That quote seems to point that Lookman's heart was not fully committed to the Blues. A move back to RB Leipzig for £22.5 million seemed to be the best solution all around. Lookman flourished in his 6-month loan spell there and seemed happy in Germany. A talent definitely... but it was just not working out at Everton. A profit of £11.5 million made on him, although Charlton Athletic get a cut of that, is the best solution all around.
Mark: 10

James McCarthy
After the first great season under Roberto Martnez, soft-issue injuries and Martin O'Neill intervened to wreck McCarthy's Everton career. The broken leg he suffered playing against West Brmwich Albion was the final straw for the injury-blighted player.

He always gave 100% when he did manage to get on the pitch for the toffees, which, to be frank, was hardly ever. He has moved to Crystal Place for a reported £8.5 million. It is hoped he stays fit and gets his career back on track at Palace. But, for us, a nice piece of business for a player who is constantly injured.
Mark: 10

Antonee Robinson
Left Back Robinson was part of the 2016-2017 Under 23 title success. Since that season Robinson has become a USA international and had successful loan spells at Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic. Very good at going forward but still naive defensively. With Leighton Baines signing a 1-year contract extension and with the signing of Fabian Delph, who can also fill in at left-back, the writing was on the wall for Robinson. His sale to Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee, but it seems £2 million seems slightly cheap, think we could have added another million.
Mark: 8

Bassala Sambou
Signed from Coventry City, forward Sambou has been a mainstay up front for the Blues Under-23s over the last three seasons. A competent forward but nowhere near Premier League level. His contract expired in the Summer and Sambou chose not to sign a new 1-year extension with the Toffees, instead choosing to move on, signing a 3-year contract with the Eredivisie Club Fortuna Sittard. This was the right decision for his own career and for the Club, who would have been wasting money if he had taken the 1-year contract extension offered.
Mark: 10

Nikola Vlasic
Brought in from Hadjuk Split on deadline day 2017 for £10 million, Croatian winger/forward Nikola Vlasic initially seemed to be a good piece of business, a young player who looked a long-term prospect for the blues. The career of Vlasic at Everton was certainly a curious one. He made 31 appearances for the Blues, many from the bench, showed flashes of promise but never managed to sustain these flashes. He failed to impose himself in the mind of the four Managers he worked under: Koeman, Unsworth, Allardyce and finally Marco Silva.

It was the 2018-19 pre-season when Vlasic had his chance to show he was good enough for the first team, but he showed next to nothing in the pre-season games and was allowed to join CSKA Moscow on a season-long loan. Under the tutelage of Viktor Goncharenko and playing in a revamped youthful CSKA, Vlasic had a good season leading to a £14 million transfer.

A player it is hard to put a finger on. Was he ever suited to the Premier League? He has found a home at CSKA and the Blues have made a profit on him (although £1.5 million goes to Hadjuk Split) but, with Everton getting a cut of any sell-on which CSKA may do in the future, all-in-all, this is good business.
Mark: 10

Joe Williams
Williams was a mainstay of the Under-23s 2016-17 title win. Successful loan spells followed at Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers. A tidy midfielder who will make a career in the game probably at Championship level. Sold to Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee after Everton had rejected Wigan's first bid of £1.5 million. It is reported that he has gone to Wigan (according to the Liverpool Echo) for substantially more than the £2 million Wigan paid for Antonee Robinson.
Mark: 10

Players Joining Everton

Fabian Delph
Delph needs no introduction and his signing for an undisclosed fee (between £8.5 - £10 million) seems not to unreasonable, although he will probably be taking a hefty wage on top. Delph can add some midfield experience and depth to the squad and at 29 can still have 3-4 good seasons still in him. But, with a questionable injury record, it is something of a gamble to have signed him.

With him pulling up after just 4 minutes of the final pre -eason friendly at Werder Bremen it is hoped his questionable injury record does not come back to haunt us.
Mark: 7

Jean-Philippe Gbamin
Ivory Coast international Gbamin has been signed from Bundesliga team Mainz for an undisclosed fee, but most reports putting the transfer at around £25 million. Anyone who has seen Mainz play will have noted that Gbamin looked one of the best performers in a young up-and-down team that could win a couple of games and then go on a losing streak. Mainz have finished mid-table in the two seasons Gbamin was at the club. Apparently on the radar of the blues for quite some time Gbamin is a tall athletic defensive midfielder who can fill the hole created with the departure of Gana Gueye. A good tackler, but not of the standard of Gana, who was the best around at tackling, but with a better passing range. Gbamin can also play in the Centre Back position, which is another plus for the Toffees. At 23 there is lots of room for development from Gbamin and he is an astute signing.
Mark: 9

André Gomes
All blues know Gomes from his loan spell last season. Silva made it plain that acquiring Gomes and Kurt Zuma on permanent contracts was a priority in the window. At 22 million euros it would seem the toffees have got a bargain for a very accomplished midfielder who at 25 years old has the capability to become the heartbeat of the midfield for the next few seasons. The one thing missing from his game is goals, with only one goal last season. An improvement here is required but a very good signing.
Mark: 9

Moise Kean
Brought in for an initial £ 27.5 million pound the signing of Kean is a real coup for the blues. At 19 Kean is a rising star in the football world. Kean made his Juventus debut just 23 days after his 16th birthday when coming on for Mario Mandzukic during a 3-0 win against Pescara. His star has been on the rise ever since.

The following season Kean moved to Hellas Verona on a season-long loan making 20 appearances and scoring 4 goals. Hellas were so bad that season finishing bottom of Serie A and being relegated it is a wonder Kean managed to score 4 goals in such a poor team. A great learning experience for him, while he continued his rise through the age ranges of the Italian National teams.

Last season was Kean's big breakthrough making it into the full Italian National team and scoring in a game against Finland, while also making 13 appearances and scoring 6 times for Juventus.

As Juventus signed Ronaldo and paired him mainly with Mandzukic for most of the season, as well as having players such as Bernardeschi and Dybala to chose from, it was always a hard task for Kean at 19 to get more game time than he actually got.

Kean can play as a centre-forward or right along the front line. The player is just what the Toffees need and, having watched Kean play for Juventus, Hellas, the Italian National team and Under 21s, this is the most important and exciting signing by Everton in the window. Kean, like Richarlison, has all the ability to take his career wherever he wants it to go.
Mark: 10

Alex Iwobi
Iwobi was signed on deadline day for an undisclosed fee but most reports put it at an initial £28 million, which could eventually rise to £35 million. Still only 23, Iwobi has been an established player for Arsenal for a number of seasons. He is a player who can play both out wide and in midfield.

My impression of his time at Arsenal can be summed up with the word 'inconsistent'. In some games, he could be good for Arsenal and at other times non-existent. But he has youth on his side and this can be a big chance for him to fulfil his full potential. What I can say is that he was very impressive for Nigeria in their run to the semi-final of this summers Afcon. May turn out to be a good piece of business but think the jury is out at this moment.
Mark: 7

Jonas Là¶ssl
Picked up on a free from relegated Huddersfield Town this is a solid piece of business by Everton. A very competent keeper who was one of, if not the best player for Huddersfield Town during their two-season sojourn in the Premier League. A major improvement on Maarten Stekelenburg, Là¶ssl can give Pickford much more competition and help Pickford keep on his toes and improve..
Mark: 8

Djibril Sidibé
27-year-old right back Sidibé started his playing career at Troyes before gaining moves to Lille and then in 2016 Monaco were he was an integral part of Monaco's Ligue 1 title-winning season of 2016-17. He was part of Frances 23-man squad, which won the 2018 World Cup. In saying this, his 2018-19 season was not a classic, but then again the whole Monaco team struggled at the bottom end of the league, sacking Manager Leonardo Jardim and employing the disaster that was Thierry Henry, before sacking Henry and bringing back Jardim to steer them away from the threat of relegation.

Sidibé will be adequate cover at right-back but he switches off in games and has been injury-prone over the last few seasons. There are better players out there who could have been picked up to cover for and finally take over from Seamus Coleman, one such example being the excellent Zeki Celik at Lille.
Mark: 6

Also incoming:

Luis Boa Morte
Boa Morte has been brought in as Assistant Manager to Marco Silva after Joà£o Pedro Sousa left to become manager at recently promoted Famalicà£o in Portugal. Boa Morte has gradually been working his way up on the technical side of football. He joins the Toffees on a 2-year contract from Maccabi Haifa in Israel, where he was Assistant Manager. He is also known to Marco Silva as he was in charge of Sporting Lisbon's Under-19s when Silva was manager at Sporting. A solid appointment to replace one of Silva's trusted aides.
Mark: 8

New Contracts

Leighton Baines
I am just mentioning one player here and that is the one-year contract extension given to Leighton Baines. I consider this a mistake. Baines has lost that lung-busting fitness he used to have, which got him up and down the pitch. We don't very often see him bombing on over the half-way line anymore.

Secondly, injuries and knocks have caught up with him; it is questionable how often he will be fully fit during the season. He actually has missed the second part of pre-season due to injury. A great servant for the Club but, just like Jagielka, he should have been dispensed with in the Summer.
Mark: 2

Final Score

Finally, I would give the window an overall score of 7 out of 10. I think we have improved the squad but also could have done much better than Sidibé at right-back while the long chase for Kurt Zouma proved fruitless. We really should have given up on the chase for Zouma earlier instead of having the ridiculous last few days of chasing sub-standard Manchester United players, Smalling and Rojo, thank god nothing came of these enquiries... what Marcel Brands was thinking is anyone's guess!!! We also should have worked harder to move on a number of the loan players who have no future at the Club: Kieran Dowell, Mathew Pennington, Jonjoe Kenny for example.

We also still also have a number of deadwood players at present: Mirallas, Niasse, Bolasie, Tosun, Onyekuru (he is never going to get a work permit), Connolly. With the transfer windows in most European countries not shutting until early January, hopefully Brands can move a number of, if not all of these players on.

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