Once again, Everton appear to be on the brink of a crucial summer transfer window.
As we reach the end of a season that showed early promise, some holes in the squad have been ruthlessly exposed by the recent spate of injury issues and it’s clear director of football Marcel Brands and manager Carlo Ancelotti have a lot of work do if the Toffees are to challenge the top-four spots next season.
Last summer, the acquisitions of Allan, Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Rodriguez were heralded and that high-quality trio have all played their part, albeit they have all missed sizeable portions of the season through injury.
Ben Godfrey’s acquisition came later in the window and was accompanied by considerably less fanfare. But the signing of the centre-back looks to be one of the smartest pieces of business the club have done since Brands arrived back in 2018.
“He was on our list already for two years, and when I had the discussion this summer with Carlo, the chairman and our owner we had to decide if we were looking for a centre-back on loan or if we want to buy,” Brands told Everton’s USA Live event over the weekend (h/t the Liverpool Echo).
“Our owner preferred to do a permanent, so Ben Godfrey was the first one on our list – and I think we did our homework well. He’s a great character, great athlete. He really adapted quickly to the level and to the club. I think the fans loved him from the beginning and that’s a good thing to see.”
While the experience of Allan, Doucoure and Rodriguez has been an asset to Everton this season, if they are to plug these gaps in the squad for a prolonged period they need more players in the mould of Godfrey.
Despite being still just 23 years old, the defender has shown maturity, adaptability and aggression in spades this season. He’s been a dependable presence for Ancelotti, able to plug a number of gaps, play in different systems and typically thrive in each position he’s been deployed in.
Everton need that dependability in more areas of the squad. They need more aggression and more physicality across the board.
They need more lads like Godfrey.