Everton have been on quite the rollercoaster over the past decade, having competed in the Europa League with Romelu Lukaku at the spearhead while scraping for purchase at the pit of the Premier League, sliding on the slope of the morass.
There are plenty of former phenoms who have since ended their affinity with the Merseysiders, yet retained prominent status at the height of the game.
Lukaku is one of them, of course, moving Manchester United in what is still a club-record £75m sale. Latterly, Richarlison and Anthony Gordon have moved to Premier League rivals in high-profile and big-money moves, with Amadou Onana thriving at Aston Villa since leaving most recently yet.
1.
Romelu Lukaku
Man United
£75m
2.
Richarlison
Tottenham
£60m
3.
Amadou Onana
Aston Villa
£50m
4.
John Stones
Man City
£47.5m
5.
Anthony Gordon
Newcastle
£45.5m
There are too many to count. Manchester City’s John Stones, wandering World Cup sensation James Rodriguez. Heck, dig a little deeper and Samuel Eto’o’s in there.
Among this sprawling seabed of gems, there’s another who is forgotten by many. His name’s Mikel Arteta, and he might just be the most prominent of the lot in today’s footballing landscape.
When Mikel Arteta played for Everton
Hark back through the annals of Everton’s Premier League journey, and you’ll find that. Toffees, of course, know this well, but it’s overlooked by many English supporters who know Arteta today as the success-driven Arsenal manager, having performed for the Gunners during his playing career too.
Arteta completed 209 appearances for Everton across the duration of his playing career, featuring more often than he did for his other sides: Arsenal, Rangers and Barcelona, among others.
Quite a nifty little player. Good grasp of the fundamentals. Makes sense that he’d thrive as a Premier League manager. Makes more sense when considering that he’s a pupil of Pep Guardiola.
Everton needed to replace him with a player of real quality, and Andre Gomes was supposed to be that star.
Andre Gomes fell by the wayside at Everton
Everton signed Gomes from Barcelona for a £22m figure in July 2019 in what was a major coup for the club, who had enjoyed his services as a loanee the previous season, it was full of promise and the decision seemed an easy one for all parties.
Everton thought they had a world-beater, a slick-passing, authority-asserting midfield general whose pedigree led him down the winding, many-hued streets of Barcelona.
Unfortunately, his early displays of promise petered out, with injuries meaning he would complete over half a league season of starts only once across five campaigns. That campaign was his first, when he was technically still a Barcelona player.
Despite impressing while out on loan with LOSC Lille during the 2022/23 campaign, Dyche could not find a regular starting berth for the Portuguese last year, with merely 12 Premier League matches awarded to him. Of course, he battled against injury once more over the opening months, but still, this only accentuates the whole mishap.
It’s a real shame the ace, who earned £120k per week at Goodison Park, didn’t reach his potential, with pundit Joe Cole even comparing the talent to his midfield predecessor Arteta, emphasising the role that he could assimilate himself into with quality performances over an extended period.
“He could be a hero at this club in a similar vein of Mikel Arteta. Probably never went to, it didn’t work out at Barcelona for Gomes and the same with Arteta he never got through to the top clubs like a Man City or Man United, but he could be a hero here and make a home for himself.”
Of course, Arteta had actually left Everton way back in 2011, signed by Arsene Wenger for a fee of £10m, but his controlled, technical quality was something not easily replicated, and Gomes held the key to the latest version to fire the Blues to success. He had the talent, he really did.
Injuries played a central role in Gomes’ failure to reach his full potential in Everton colours, but it’s still a real kick that he was unable to sustain the quality in the centre of the park that could have made a real difference over the past few years.
Instead, Everton slumped, and Gomes floundered – ultimately departing on a free transfer at the end of last season.
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