Everton are set for a major summer overhaul. Led by David Moyes, the incoming CEO Angus Kinnear and others, the Blues will head into a period of transition on and off the pitch, with a new-look squad set to be built for the era that will begin with the move to the new stadium.
With 15 senior players on deals due to end, there is a lot to do over the coming months. Having already looked at the defence, the ECHO casts a glance over the dynamics at play in central midfield, where there could be significant change ahead.
Everton’s midfield is perhaps the most fascinating area of the squad this summer. The club has a number of big decisions to make, with players heading towards the end of their careers and up and coming talents all making plays for involvement next season.
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The two immediate questions centre around the out-of-contract centre-midfielders Idrissa Gueye and Abdoulaye Doucoure.
At the age of 35, Gueye is moving toward the twilight of his playing days. Yet he has shown no signs of running out of gas. The Senegal international has been one of the most consistent performers at the club over recent years and there is a strong case to say he has been the squad’s best player since Moyes’ return.
The former Paris Saint Germain star has impressed his new boss and he is an influential figure for a number of players in the squad. Offering Gueye the chance to oversee the emergence of a new-look central midfield would be a sensible move - his experience and high standards make him a role model in a key area and will be useful as this side attempts to develop. He also wants to stay, last week becoming the latest first-team player to go public in their desire to be part of the club’s exciting future.
What will happen with Doucoure is one of the biggest unknowns of the summer. The 32-year-old could not have done more to prove Frank Lampard wrong for freezing him out of his plans and has since written his name into Everton folklore.
One of Sean Dyche’s first big calls was to restore Doucoure to his starting line-up and he was repaid handsomely for that show of faith. Not only did the former Watford man cement himself in Blues legend with his stunning, survival-clinching strike against Bournemouth, he helped make that escape possible with a series of important goals against the likes of Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Doucoure continued to provide goals at the start of the following campaign before his season was disrupted by hamstring injuries. He has managed to prove he still has value to Moyes and goals against Leicester City and Manchester United have shown he still has the ability to pop up with important contributions.
Whether Everton look to move on from Doucoure is a significant dilemma. The Blues have allowed their option to extend his contract to expire, though that was a decision based in a wider context - triggering the option would have meant committing the club to continuing with his significant wages at a time when Premier League survival, though likely, was not guaranteed.
A new deal has not been ruled out but conversations about how one might look are yet to happen. With Everton at a crossroads, one question is whether or not they can move away from Doucoure. While his technical ability has often been a source of frustration, a succession of managers have found his energy and enthusiasm the most effective route to three points. Even Moyes, who at times looked frustrated with the former Mali international as moves broke down in his early weeks, has come to recognise the value of Doucoure’s industry. He went out of his way to praise him after the draw with Arsenal and his continued use of the ex-Rennes man shows his faith.
If the right terms can be found, there is little doubt he would be useful next season. But the call on him may be a good indication of how cautious or ambitious the rebuild for the summer is going to be.
That is because Moyes wants goals from midfield and Doucoure has a history of providing them. A key ambition for the new manager is to find someone capable of providing a consistent source though - in the same way Tomas Soucek did for him at West Ham United.
Moyes wanted to strengthen the midfield in January and explored deals for Chelsea’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Newcastle United’s Sean Longstaff. The latter is likely to again come under consideration in the summer. Expect there to be some focus on securing a new face or two in this key area.
The final weeks of the season therefore feel significant for James Garner, who will enter the last year of his contract in the summer. The 24-year-old has started to feature for Moyes since returning from a back injury. His glorious through ball to Beto against Leicester was a highlight of his Blues career but he has been moved out wide at times as Moyes has shuffled his players around to solve in-game issues. Garner’s versatility will always make him a useful player but he has work to stake a claim for a starting place for next season. He looks likely to get the opportunity to do that and a couple of big performances could be the difference between Moyes building a team with him in it, and him being viewed as a squad player.
The challenge for Garner is also an internal one. Tim Iroegbunam has made several important cameos off the bench for Moyes, including in the Goodison derby, when his header created the stoppage-time equaliser for James Tarkowski. There are growing calls for the 21-year-old to gain more prominence in the side and he started against Arsenal. Iroegbunam had an intriguing performance. On the one hand, he provided energy and a willingness to collect the ball and try and carry it forward from deep. His first real taste of senior football came in a loan spell from Aston Villa to QPR and his highlight reel is full of clips of him shimmying beyond a midfielder and striding forward to turn defence into attack. There were glimpses of that on Saturday, but questions remain about his discipline and end product - though playing one of the league’s top sides in a first start in months is perhaps not the fairest game to cast judgement. Iroegbunam will be a player Moyes hopes to gain a greater understanding of in the final seven weeks of the year.
There will also be significant attention paid to Harrison Armstrong. The teenager has enjoyed a remarkable rise from the under-18s to first-team football in the past nine months. After taking advantage of an injury crisis to gain first team exposure in pre-season, Armstrong convinced Dyche to keep him with the squad - giving him a Premier League debut off the bench at Tottenham Hotspur in August. A first senior start followed against Southampton in the Carabao Cup then, this time under interim manager Leighton Baines, the box-to-box midfielder earned man of the match in the FA Cup win over Peterborough United. The 18-year-old has quickly won over supporters with a string of impressive displays in the Championship since starting a loan spell with Derby County and the England youth international will be closely looked at in the summer.
Another option to throw into the mix is Carlos Alcaraz. His future will be discussed in more detail in the final part of this trilogy, with the 22-year-old likely to be considered for the central attacking midfield spot. But Moyes got the clearest sign of something he does not consistently have from his central midfield when Alcaraz dropped deeper at Crystal Palace. He produced a match-winning display from the middle at Selhurst Park, creating the goal for Beto before lashing in Everton's second. What stood out was his ability to help the side transition from defence to attack quickly. Everton have, for some years, lacked a player in the middle who appeared comfortable and competent at collecting the ball on the half-turn. Amadou Onana was the most capable, though in Dyche's Everton found his opportunities to be more creative stifled. Alcaraz's display in south London was perhaps the clearest evidence that central midfield is an area worth investing in this summer.
