New Everton owner Farhad Moshiri promised big things — including, among other things, a new stadium and a replenished transfer war chest — when he bought the club last February.
[ MORE: Wednesday’s transfer rumor roundup | Tuesday | Monday ]
Fast forward 16 months, and boy oh boy, has Moshiri come good on his promises thus far. A stadium deal remains in the works with a land deal agree in March, and though the summer transfer window is only in its infancy, the Toffees have been plenty busy, most notably for the $68 million departed to complete a pair of key signings on Thursday.
Jordan Pickford was announced as the club’s new record signing in the early afternoon, followed a few hours later by the confirmation of 24-year-old Dutch midfielder Davy Klaassen as the club’s latest signing, for a fee of $30 million.
💪 | Welcome aboard, @DavyKlaassen! The attacking midfielder has completed a €27m move from @AFCAjax: https://t.co/PF7JA4TNzp pic.twitter.com/vvKlukR2c4
— Everton (@Everton) June 15, 2017
[ MORE: Donnarumma to leave AC Milan; Real Madrid come calling ]
Klaassen, who’s spent his entire career (55 goals in 180 appearances — all competitions) at Ajax, has been linked with every Premier League giant under the sun for years now. He’s been capped 14 times by the Netherlands and has four international goals to his name.
With two key signings already in the door, Everton’s attention will now turn to the futures of Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley. Klaassen could very well be Barkley’s replacement, with the 23-year-old failing to sign a new contract as of yet, and perhaps even an upgrade from the Englishman. If Lukaku and/or Barkley do depart Goodison in the coming weeks or months, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not that money is reinvested immediately, or if the signings of Pickford and Klaassen were merely a precursor of the inevitable.
Or, perhaps the early transfer dealings are one last attempt at convincing the pair to stay for at least one more season and make a run at crashing the top-four/six party.