Being an Everton supporter is, for the most part, an exercise in endurance. For decades, the Toffees have frittered around anything from fifth spot down to fighting off relegation as they did last year. The club has never really improved or grown with the times, and the highly expensive but hugely underachieving Farhad Moshiri era has been another trying time for Blues fans. A big part of the challenge has often been keeping academy players at the club.
This summer, the Blues have been another team in blue – Chelsea – courting one of their best in Anthony Gordon. The youngster was one of the only bright sparks in a dismal 2021-22 season, playing a key role in keeping Everton in the Premier League. A boyhood Blue, Gordon, like Ross Barkley and Wayne Rooney before him, was seen as a figure that the fans could love – one of their own, so to speak.
Like Barkley and Rooney, though, it looks like Gordon is going to force an exit to a more ambitious club. Reports suggest the draw of UEFA Champions League football and the chance to get into the England team ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup are primary drivers in the decision to ask out from Everton.
Everton are believed to want a fee in excess of £50m, with reports also suggesting that Conor Gallagher, 22, will be arriving on loan as part of the deal. The Englishman shone last year for Crystal Palace, and was seen as a potential first-team player for Chelsea. If it helps them land Gordon, though, seen as essential to the plans Thomas Tuchel has for the season, then it might be worth loaning Gallaggher out one more time.
Everton expected to be busy ahead of deadline
If Gordon does go, fans are expecting the club to go into overdrive. Losing Richarlison has been bad enough; the loss of Gordon would leave Everton utterly blunt in attack. This could see a move made in the dying embers of the window for an experienced, league proven goal scorer. Several names are floating around, but one name that intrigues is Danny Ings.
Despite having connections to rivals Liverpool, the England forward has struggled at Aston Villa and could do with a new start. Returning to Merseyside alongside another former Red, Conor Coady, might seem odd. For Everton, though, it is a case of what they can land in this current window.
So much is expected of one of the biggest clubs in English football. Decades of poor decision making and frugality, though, has seen them fall behind entirely. It makes sense, then, that players like Gordon want to try out for new opportunities elsewhere.
Fans have long dreamt of seeing academy players become the backbone of the Everton team, representing the fans in the stands. From the looks of it, though, another poor season will chase yet another young academy start out the door to one of the modern power sides in the league.