Sue Smith has slammed Everton for showing a lack of future planning after selling Anthony Gordon. Andre Ayew snubbing a transfer for Nottingham Forest also highlights their issues.
Everton let Gordon move to Newcastle United for an initial £40m, rising to £45m with add-ons, in January. Goodison Park chiefs sanctioned the deal only after the winger handed in a formal transfer request. But the Toffees did not reinvest the cash in a single winter signing.
Instead, Ayew emerged as a last-ditch target before the winter sales slammed shut having quit Qatari outfit Al-Sadd. The Daily Mail reported Everton held direct talks with Ayew over a transfer. But he, instead, chose to join Nottingham Forest on a contract only until this June.
Ayew could sign for Everton as an out-of-window transfer but chose Nottingham Forest for a return to the Premier League. The 33-year-old was a free agent as he and Al-Sadd agreed to mutually terminate his contract in January. The winger enjoyed the last two years there.
Al-Sadd signed Ayew off Swansea City in January 2021 and the 113-cap Ghana ace hit 22 goals in 39 games. He also enjoyed 18 months with West Ham United from August 2016 to January 2018. The Jacks re-signed Ayew, who they initially bought in 2015, from the Irons.
Andre Ayew snubbing Everton for a transfer to Nottingham Forest is ‘disappointing’
Nottingham Forest made Ayew their 30th signing this season in a free transfer at Everton’s expense. Sean Dyche now has a Toffees squad weaker than when they entered the market under Frank Lampard. Even after Farhad Moshiri assured that ‘there will be new signings’.
Smith has now reflected on Moshiri’s statement promising mid-season transfers at Everton after Ayew snubbed the Toffees for Nottingham Forest. The former England star also feels Gordon’s move to Newcastle offered echoes of Richarlison’s move to Tottenham Hotspur.
“It’s disappointing,” Smith said on Sky Sports News (04/02, 12:04). “I think it just shows how far the club have declined that players don’t want to come. But I think it shows the lack of vision and the lack of future planning of Everton Football Club.
“Everton have weakened their team. They did it with Richarlison in the summer. They get rid of their best player [and] they don’t replace him adequately. They then go and get rid of Anthony Gordon [and] you think: ‘Well, they’ve got this money to spend’.
“Moshiri comes out to the fans and says: ‘We will bring in a striker. We will strengthen the side. We’ll be better in this second part of the season’. That hasn’t happened. So, it’s those false promises and the fact that all the teams in and around Everton have strengthened.”
Everton sold Richarlison to Tottenham for an initial £50m, rising to £60m, last July. Yet the Toffees only replaced the winger with an initial £20m deal with Burnley for Dwight McNeil and a £15m raid on Brighton & Hove Albion to sign striker Neal Maupay, who has flopped.
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