Ranking Everton’s 10 weirdest & most questionable signings of the Farhad Moshiri era
With Everton now officially past the Farhad Moshiri era, the Friedkin Group story is just beginning – but we’ve decided to look back at the eight years under the British-Iranian businessman.
Seizing control in 2016, Everton were promised significant investment on the pitch that would help elevate them to new heights. But the £663 million was so poorly spent that the club regressed from European football to relegation battles.
As the club move into a new chapter of its history, we’ve decided to look back at Moshiri’s time at Everton to rank the 10 weirdest and most ill-considered signings from across that era.
10. Salomon Rondon
Rondon was clearly past his best when he arrived at Everton. His spell at Newcastle United under Rafael Benitez was shaky, to say the least, and he managed as many red cards as he did goals for the club.
He has now found a home in Mexico where he has a good goal record but the idea of signing off on a player like Rondon at the time was simply poor business at a time when they weren’t bound by financial restrictions.
9. Sandro Ramirez
Signed for just £5million, somehow Everton managed to fight off Atletico Madrid for his signature but that probably should have been a warning sign.
His wages were reportedly high as well but, across his career, he has never played outside of Spain.
Instead of looking for a more suitable player with demonstratable experience, they took a gamble (that is certainly the theme of this list) on someone unlikely to transform them.
You get what you pay for and Everton were stung badly by such a move.
8. Theo Walcott
Twenty-eight years old at the time, Walcott was far removed from his peak and the club still opted to spend £20million for a player far past his best.
Why wasn’t the best talent in the Championship looked at?
From a purely business standpoint, he was unlikely to ever give more than one decent season or have any resale value – who greenlit these deals?
7. Neal Maupay
Everton looked to acquire a bargain by bringing in Neal Maupay from Brighton for £15million.
At the time, he had managed 26 goals in three seasons for Brighton but he was an out-and-out number nine and often played with a striker partner.
The club took a gamble and it failed to pay off. Maupay managed just one goal and it seems that £15m could have been far better spent.
6. Anwar El Ghazi
Arriving on loan, he managed just two games in a bizarre spell.
Again, Everton were just trying to find a quick and cheap option to bolster their squad and El Ghazi was barely even playing at Villa – at a time when they were facing relegation rather than challenging for top-four football.
And it became a laughable deal as soon as a few months later as he left after two brief showings.
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5. Cuco Martina
Signed when he was already past his best and on the fringes at Southampton, Everton tried to pull a cheap deal off but even signing Martina for free felt expensive – he was that awful.
He was quickly exiled on loan to Stoke City, and again, it was a short-term solution that didn’t help them in the short or long term.
4. Beto
Spending close to £25million on a striker with limited experience and just 35 career goals to his name at senior level was certainly puzzling.
Looking towards the Championship and other leagues, there were plenty of other options that would have been the same or cheaper.
The idea of signing players because they will improve the team should be the mantra and yet Beto looks set to leave after two inconspicuous years.
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3. Davy Klaassen
Everton forked out nearly £23million for the Dutchman who shone in Holland but, again, their scouting should have known he wasn’t physically athletic enough to cut it in England.
For that type of money, they could have signed the very best in the Championship or ventured to an actual top-five European league.
He failed at Everton and was quickly shipped off to Germany where he endured a mixed spell at Werder Bremen.
He then returned to Ajax again twice (he currently plays there now) which seems to be the only club where he has ever felt comfortable.
2. Jesper Lindstrom
With Everton’s money issues, they had to get creative and Lindstrom was available on loan after a hugely disappointing campaign in Italy. He shone at Eintracht Frankfurt for two seasons which earned him a move to Napoli.
However, he failed to score or assist in 29 games before joining Everton. Given they were crying out for an exciting winger who could make them better going forward, he was an awful selection.
1. Dele Alli
Not many believed at the time that there was much left in Alli before Everton forked out sizeable wages to bring him to Goodison Park.
A lot of talk was surrounding the fact that Frank Lampard could mentor and unlock him – but it never seemed like a realistic goal.