Both West Ham United and Everton will be hoping to have a bigger impact on the Premier League next season.
Last year was supposed to be Everton’s shot at the top six as they spent big on several signings.
Michael Keane and Jordan Pickford arrived for a combined initial £50 million, Davy Klaassen was signed from Ajax for another £23 million, and Gylfi Sigurdsson joined for a club record £45 million from Swansea.
Those were unprecedented figures in Everton’s history and, while it was at least partially funded by the sale of Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United, the expensive summer was an ambitious plan to put Everton among the biggest clubs.
But that did not work out and Everton were stuck with Sam Allardyce as manager halfway through the season after briefly looking like relegation candidates. The consequence of that is an even more important summer in 2018 as a rebuild is needed to get back on track.
It is no secret that Everton have ambitions of, at the very least, consolidating that ‘best of the rest’ spot in the Premier League before challenging for the Champions League; last season may have been a setback for their plans but they will have another go.
Trying to do it all in one summer is a big ask but now, out of virtually nowhere, they may have to try to do it as quickly as possible.
West Ham United have moved forward with the same ambition, appointing the highly respected Manuel Pellegrini as manager and spending big money on Issa Diop and a contract for Jack Wilshere. On top of that, the Hammers are linked with the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Felipe Anderson, and Andriy Yarmolenko as they too aim for the top six.
If Everton truly are as ambitious as ever, they now have another club to compete with; they cannot dally and let the Hammers get ahead.
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