How I Started Hunting for Everton Transfers
Alright, so last night I got this wild itch to figure out who the new Everton gaffer might be chasing this summer. Not just random names, you know? Proper realistic targets. My missus just rolled her eyes when I grabbed the laptop during EastEnders, but hey, football waits for no one.
First thing I did? Dove headfirst into the fans forums. Holy mackerel, the noise in there! Half the threads wanted Mbappe (seriously, folks?), the other half arguing over some teenager from the Belgian league nobody’s heard of. Complete mess. Felt like I needed a shovel just to find any sensible suggestions buried under the nonsense.
The Actual Scouting Grind
Time to get proper. I opened up tabs for the Premier League’s stats page, FIFA’s transfer tracker thing (wonky as ever), and checked out some trusted local journo feeds. Filtered hard for positions Everton actually needs, not just fancy names. The gut feeling? Defence needs shoring up big time, and that midfield’s crying out for legs and bite.
Started making my own list, proper simple stuff:
- Centre-back: Must be strong in the air, decent pace, PL experience a bonus.
- Box-to-box midfielder: Got to run all day, tackles, maybe chip in with a few goals.
- Versatile attacker: Someone who can cover wings or through the middle, reliable.
Scrolled through so many names my eyes started swimming. Cross-referenced minutes played last season, injury history (crucial!), even looked at age – no more pensioners unless they’re solid gold, right? Found myself down weird rabbit holes watching dodgy YouTube compilations of defenders in the Championship at 2 AM. Wife shouted I was “messing about like a teenager.” Fair point.
Reality Check & Finalising the Wishlist
Then I remembered – Everton ain’t swimming in cash. So much for my hopeful list! Had to slash through half the names like a hot knife through butter. Forget the £50 million wonderkids or stars snagged by bigger fish last season. Focused on:
- PL squad players needing more minutes.
- Contracts running down soon-ish.
- Talents in lower leagues ready for the step up.
Checked wages too – massive players demanding £200k a week? Nah, mate, pipe dream. Needs to fit the structure. Also peeked at reliable sources like… yeah, that one Merseyside reporter who usually knows his onions, seeing if any whispers matched up with the profiles I was pulling. Knocked my list down to about five sensible, affordable possibilities per position, feeling kinda proud of filtering out the rubbish.
Why This Whole Thing is Flawed Anyway
Look, this ain’t Football Manager. I could spend ages watching clips and crunching stats, but in the real world?
- Scouts know way more: Got proper networks, data I can’t even access.
- Agents meddle: Playing silly games, offering players everywhere.
- Money always wins: Unless it’s a free transfer, someone else might swoop in.
- Manager might not even want them! He could have some wild card up his sleeve nobody saw coming.
End of the day, my little experiment probably got maybe… one or two names right? Maybe? And if I’m honest? That’s probably down to pure luck. Still, feels good to try and make sense of the rumour mill chaos, even if it’s mostly guesswork fueled by coffee and dodgy streams.
