Report: Moshiri personally told PL attacker he’d play for Everton
The transfer failings at Everton Football Club over recent years have been spectacular and numerous, and they’ve seriously affected the club’s progress.
They’ve spent a lot of money at Goodison Park in the past half decade, yet the Toffees haven’t moved forward in any meaningful way.
There was another spending spree of sorts last summer. However, the outlay could have been even more significant if one monster deal had come off.
Yes, Wilfried Zaha. The Crystal Palace forward’s on again-off again switch to Merseyside was a genuine saga, although an ultimately fruitless one.
Now, The Athletic has claimed that Blues owner Farhad Moshiri actually told the Ivory Coast international that he would play for Everton.
Moshiri was clearly very keen to sign the Eagles star, but the London club were reluctant to part with him for any less than £80million.
The Toffees eventually signed winger Alex Iwobi from Arsenal, but it’s clear that Moshiri’s first choice was Zaha.
How big of a blow was missing out on Zaha?
The Ivorian certainly would’ve made a big difference to the Everton attack, that’s for sure. Imagine him, Bernard and Richarlison playing behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin – that’s mouthwatering.
He’s someone who averages five successful dribbles a game, a quite astonishing number that demonstrates his directness. He’d have offered something completely different in the Toffees attack.
However, £80million was too much money. He’s 27-years-old not 21, so it’s not as if you’d have years and years and years of top quality football. But Moshiri should’ve made sure he’d gotten a deal done before he told Zaha he’d be an Everton player.
In other Everton news, a Toffees defender is reportedly set to put pen to paper on a new contract at Goodison Park.