Steve Walsh arrived at Everton from Premier League rivals Leicester City with a reputation for pulling off brilliant bargain signings.
Walsh was renowned for bringing in a series of inspired bargain signings at Leicester City, including Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante.
But since he was appointed Everton’s Director of Football in 2016, Walsh hasn’t struck gold with anything like the same regularity. The likes of Michael Keane (£30m), Gylfi Sigurdsson (£45m), Cenk Tosun (£27m) and Ashley Williams (£12m) all arrived at Goodison Park for big fees, but haven’t lived up to those expensive price-tags.
And with The Daily Mail reporting that majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri unhappy about the club’s tendency to waste money on underwhelming signings, as well as Everton fans getting on Moshiri’s back, a brilliant deal for Jonny Evans could be just what the doctor ordered.
The Birmingham Mail reports that there is a clause in the centre-back’s contract stating that he can leave West Brom for just £3 million if they are relegated – which looks more than likely with The Baggies bottom of the Premier League and seven points from safety.
An Everton side who have struggled defensively this season would probably be pulling off an excellent deal bringing Evans, who West Brom demanded £30 million for in January amid interests from Arsenal and Manchester City, to Goodison Park for a pocket change fee.
After all, The Mirror states that Everton are considering selling Michael Keane a year on from his £30 million move from Burnley while Ashley Williams, Phil Jagielka and Mason Holgate have been below par for much of the campaign.
A cheap deal for Evans, then, would improve the starting XI and would not cost the world – the sort of signing Walsh was hired to produce.
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