Everton far from over with player sales after multi-million Ishe Samuels-Smith exit
Everton are expected to see more outgoings this summer as their financial struggles have forced them into unwanted but necessary sales, including Ishe Samuels-Smith’s recent switch to Chelsea, according to The Athletic.
Patrick Boyland reported on 9 July that Everton needed to raise funds amid financial turmoil, resulting in left-back Samuels-Smith being sold for £4million despite the 17-year-old being highly thought of at Goodison Park.
However, the youngster may be the latest of required outgoings at Goodison Park as they are “far from” stopping player sales this window, as the Merseyside outfit fight to meet their financial obligations.
Disasterous
Back in March, Everton were referred to the Premier League Judicial Panel following alleged breaches of the league’s Financial Fair Play rules after exceeding the allowed three-yearly losses by £266million [Sky Sports].
The club are still feeling the impact of this turmoil, and it has forced their hand into unwanted outgoings.
Chelsea saw Everton’s struggles and quickly capitalised by making Everton an offer they couldn’t refuse, despite plans to integrate Samuels-Smith into Sean Dyche’s squad.
As a left-back, Samuels-Smith only had Ukranian Vitalii Mykolenko as competition, meaning he would have had an excellent chance of earning a lot of first-team minutes next season under Dyche.
This shows just how desperate Everton are for funds. When Anthony Gordon, another Everton academy graduate, made the £45million switch to Newcastle [Sky Sports], Evertonians knew that such a high fee couldn’t be turned down.
However, receiving such a small fee for someone as promising as Samuels-Smith reflects their current peril. Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino must have been rubbing his hands in delight at securing such a deal after meeting the teenager.
But Everton needs to think in the short-term and fix their financial irregularities, and the inevitable player sales are now rearing their head. The development and retention of young talent must be put on the back burner for now, giving Toffees just one more reason to be frustrated at the club.
In other Everton news, the Toffees’ deal for Almeria forward looks unlikely after a lack of bid.