Fan Comment

Window Dressing

As the long Covid-impacted transfer window has closed (with a few days of the domestic EFL window still open), how have the Blues performed?

Outgoings

The club have released a number of young players who were never going to make it at first-team level: Morgan Feeney, Matty Foulds, Alex Denny, Manasse Mampala and Kieran Phillips all leaving the toffees.

We have also finally said goodbye to Luke Garbutt, whose contract expired, while one-time hot prospect Fraser Hornby was sold to Stade de Reims in France for £1 million. Meanwhile, a player who never lived up to his potential, Kieran Dowell, after a number of loan moves, was sold to Norwich City for an undisclosed fee. (The Championship is Dowell's level and with their relegation probably an astute move by Norwich.)

From the first-team squad, Morgan Schneiderlin was finally moved off the books for a £2 million transfer to Nice. In his last year of contract, and on stupid money, getting £2 million for him is actually good business. It is also goodbye to Oumar Niasse and Cuco Martina whose contracts expired. Both players always gave their all when they played for the blues, but were never up to Premier League standard. Also finally departing is Sandro Ramirez who moved to SD Huesca back in Spain on a free, gone and quickly forgotten.

On the loan front, Under-23 players Denis Adeniran, Nathangelo Markelo and Lewis Gibson have all been moved out on season-long loans to Wycombe Wanderers, Reading and FC Twente, respectively. Nothing wrong with sending young players out on loan to get experience but, at 21 years of age and being at the club since the Koeman era, I think the time for Adeniran and Markelo has passed. Giving both 1-year contract extensions and sending them out on loan is just wasting the club's time.

If, at the age of 21, you are not making a mark or getting at least close to the first team, then it is time to be moved on — not sent out on loan and given an extra years contract. Yes, you do get late developers but mostly at that age, if you are not getting close to the first team, then it is time to be let go.

Lewis Gibson, now 20, probably falls into this category as well although, to be fair, this seems to be more due to circumstances. Brought in from Newcastle United for £1 million (possibly rising to £5-6 million) at aged 17, Gibson seemed to be on a bright path at the blues. He signed a new 2½-year contract in January, after being convinced the club had a pathway for his development, and moved on a half-season loan to Fleetwood Town.

During the same January window, Jarrad Branthwaite was signed from Carlisle United, making rapid strides and gaining first-team appearances post-lockdown. With the arrival of Ben Godfrey from Norwich City, it does put into question the future of Gibson, who is now down to 6th place in the centre-back pecking order. Even when we only had Mina and Keane fit at the start of the season, Gibson was not in contention for even a first-team substitute spot. It is an open question what the future now holds for Gibson but if, after his loan spell, the club still think he is not ready to contend for a first-team spot, then he should be off-loaded next Summer.

Finally we have Theo Walcott and Moise Kean. Walcott, a £20 million waste of money courtesy of Allardyce and Walsh, was signed way past his best (if he ever had a best), from Arsenal on a hefty wage. Now gone on a season-long loan to Southampton, his wages will be split 50-50 between the Blues and the Saints. This is the best we could have got for a player who is 31 and on ridiculous money. With his contract expiring in June 2021, we can say goodbye to Mr Walcott.

Moise Kean is certainly an enigma. A player with talent, although his first touch needs to be improved, it seemed a coup when Everton signed him from Juventus. I for one thought he would be a success in his first season at the club. Sadly this has not been the case with only fleeting appearances in the first team. With the form of Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison, it seemed first-team exposure would be limited again this season. With this in mind, a season-long loan has been arranged for him at PSG.

I would have liked him to have stayed and fought for more first-team appearances this season myself. With Mbappe, Di Maria, Neymar, and Icardi all in front of him, (although Icardi has not exactly set the world alight since his move from Inter), he may well find first-team chances at PSG limited, especially when it comes to the really big games. But he may get league games against the like of Dijon, Nimes etc. Hopefully he will get some game time, and come back ready to go with the Blues next season. If not, then, if he has at least gained game time at PSG and being young, the blues should be able to get a good transfer fee for him, if not the £26 million we bought him in for.

We have finally said goodbye to a number of Under-23 players who have been around the club too long. But this is offset with giving new contracts to Markelo, and Adeniran and sending them out on loan, which is not good business; they should have been sold or let go this summer. Same for Con Ouzounidis who has also got a contract extension but has not gone out on loan at this time of writing. Meanwhile, we have the absolute waste of players such as Mathew Pennington and Callum Connolly still turning out for the Under-23s this season. These should, like Dowell, have been moved on.

As for the first-team, Schneiderlin and Sandro have gone for good, and Walcott will be gone once his loan move has ended. All ticks in the good box. Against this, the list of players still hanging around: Besic, Bolasie, Tosun etc, is still a blot on the working of Brands.

With the domestic EFL market still open till 16 October, Brands should put all his energy in trying to move some of the unwanted players from the club's books. It may be hard considering the wages they are handsomely given, but a window is still there to move a few on, and please, Pennington and Connolly, move on for your own careers.

Incomings

The Club has given contracts to a number of young players who have made their mark in the Under-18s and latterly the Under-23s. Sebastian Quirk, Tyler Onyango and centre-back Sebastian Kristensen were all given contracts at the club. It is hoped they will progress in the coming season. There is plenty of noise and hype especially around 17-year-old Onyango in particular.

The blues snapped up Niels Nkounkou, a 19-year-old French left-back from Marseille on a free, although £240,000 was paid to Marseille in training compensation. Nkounkou was expected to go into Unsworth's Under-23 squad but it soon became apparent he is an able deputy to Lucas Digne and has been fast-tracked into the first-team squad, putting in three good appearances in the Carabao Cup to date. A player for the now and future, and a great piece of business by Brands.

Brought in near the end of the market was Swedish midfielder Imam Jagne, signed from BK Hacken, penning a 3-year deal. Just 17, hopefully this is another good piece of business, such as Nkonkou... time will tell.

Which brings us to the five major signings. Robin Olsen, the Swedish international goalkeeper, was brought in on a season-long loan from Roma on deadline day. No matter how many Blues may claim he is an international with plenty of caps for Sweden, he is not a good goalkeeper. Signed for Roma under the Di Francesco / Monchi failure, Olsen was a goalkeeping disaster and was shipped out on loan to Cagliari where, to be fair, he did better, but improving on his form at Roma was not hard to do.

In short, Pickford is a much better keeper than Olsen. Will he bring pressure on Pickford? If he does and helps Jordan up his game, then all well and good... but he is not a good first-team 'keeper — even for a short period of time. Please don't trust him in the Carabao Cup quarter-final, Carlo.

Centre-back Ben Godfrey, an England Under-21 international, has been signed from Norwich City for between £20-25 million on deadline day. Only 22 so lots of time to progress, Godfrey will now bring our first-team centre-backs up to five when Branthwaite and Holgate are back fit. So we now seem to be well covered in this area and may well be over-stocked.

I have to admit Godfrey made no impression on me, good or bad, any time I saw Norwich last season, which, apart from their two games against us, was probably once or twice more at best. So no judgment on him from me until I have seen him in action for the Blues.

Finally, the trio of Allan, Doucouré and Rodriguez. Allan and Doucouré have both joined for about £20 million each, while the Rodriguez deal from all reports seems to be virtually nothing, not counting wages. I can't argue against the instant improvement all three have brought to the team, top of the league and quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, winning all seven games played so far is not to be sniffed at. André Gomes seems to have upped his game with the arrival of the trio, while even Sigurdsson has looked a half-decent player.

All three and especially Allan and Rodriguez have been brought in for the here and now. Do I think Brands would have targeted Allan and Rodriguez? No, I don't. These are players which Ancelotti wanted for the here and now and, to be fair, Brands went and got them for good prices.

So on this trio their signings have vastly improved the team, will it last, let's hope so, but I think they show a fissure between the aims of Brands and Ancelotti. But, for the money spent on them, if it gets us success in the short-term, then we can't argue; although I still think a long-term strategy will be undermined if we carry on to pursue such players in the future.

As we survey the window, one has to come to the conclusion that the Blues have done quite good business. We have off-loaded a number of players while bringing in players (Olsen being the exception) who have had an instant impact on the team. If Brands can manage to move out a few more players in the 7-day EFL window, it will be even better. I still think there is a tension and different outlook between Brands and Ancelotti, which will not last in the long run, but at the moment, it is bringing some early season success, which we all hope will continue.

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