After spending exorbitant amounts of money on players in the last two transfer windows, Everton are taking it a step further this time. PSV Eindhoven’s director of football, Marcel Brands has been linked with the Toffees for the position of technical director. The Everton bosses are adamant on breaking in with the elites of English football and are willing to go all out over that endeavour.
Brands joined PSV in 2010 after quitting his role as technical director at AZ Alkmaar. The 55-year-old’s impressive ability to recruit players came into the limelight during his time with AZ where he also chose to hire former Manchester United coach, Louis Van Gaal. In Van Gaal’s debut season, the Dutch outfit went to the semi-final stage of the UEFA Cup only to lose out to Sporting Lisbon.
It was not until the 2008/09 season, AZ could break through to a league title and registered their second in overall history. With a couple of quarterfinal finishes in the European stage, Brands had to take the next step on his career ladder and decided to sign with PSV where he has been breaking waves over the past few years. A £200m profit in the transfer window speaks for itself about his capabilities as he went on to sign and sell players like Georginio Wijnaldum, Kevin Strootman and Memphis Depay.
Brands talents fit the bill perfectly as to what is required for an ambitious side like Everton. Even after splashing over £180m it looks like they have not complete received the full return on their investments. The club not only started the season off poorly but some of their purchased players have struck out at Goodison Park and might have to be sold off in the near future to make way for the new.
Sandro Ramirez is one of the cases which immediately sparks the debate of failed investment. The highly rated La Masia product was in prolific form for Malaga last season but has failed to break into the English game. Davy Klaassen has also flopped out of the side having made just 13 appearances this season.
With high wage bills and contracts that stretch out for considerable periods, the club is having a hard time offloading a few players even though a plethora are coming in. Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun were signed over the past week and it looks like Sam Allardyce needs more to make their way up the points table. Maybe he needs the excellence of Brands to help him win the fights he cannot off the pitch.
