Everton director of football Kevin Thelwell credited with key role in exciting players
New Everton director of football Kevin Thelwell is credited with the recruitment of some exciting names in his time with Wolves.
The new appointment at Goodison arrives from New York Red Bulls but previously spent nearly 12 years at Molineux, moving into roles in charge of recruitment and development and sporting director.
The 48-year-old, who finally replaces Marcel Brands who left in December, played a prominent role in the discovery of Diogo Jota, Ruben Neves, Adama Traore, Leander Dendoncker and Conor Coady, according to a statement from the club.
The Toffees transfer history under the ownership of Farhad Moshiri has been chequered so the new man will be tasked with implementing a coherent strategy.
Thelwell only spent two years in the US but appears satisfied with his work as the Liverpool Echo quotes him saying: ““The roster has been completely rebuilt; there is a clear sporting vision now in place as part of a strategic five-year plan; and the pipeline of young talent is now stronger than ever.”
Exciting future?
The club clearly hopes to excite the fan base with the mention of some of the success stories from his time in the Midlands.
Jota and Traore especially are the kinds of players that would get the supporters onside as the Portuguese is now proving a major success at title-chasing Liverpool, and the Spaniard is helping to bring about a Barcelona revival under Xavi.
But the fans would be forgiven for withholding judgment for the time being as similar things were said about Steve Walsh previously.
The former director of football was hailed as the man who brought N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy to Leicester City.
All three were plucked from obscurity to drive the Foxes to an unlikely Premier League title.
But his time on Merseyside was filled with expensive flops in the market, with only Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jordan Pickford and Idriss Gueye real successes.
However, Walsh subsequently claimed the club ignored his recommendations to sign Erling Haaland, Andy Robertson and Harry Maguire (Evening Standard) so perhaps he was not the only problem.
The arrival of Frank Lampard has applied a gloss of stability at the club but it was only a month ago that the entire infrastructure appeared in turmoil.
Thelwell may be part of the solution but recent history suggests it is not a sure thing.
In other Everton news, Kevin Campbell worries about the backlash from Manchester City.
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