Despite some frustrating stretches for Everton this past Premier League campaign, things ended on a promising note. Because of that, the Blues may not need to make too many changes for the 2019/20 season. The squad has a plethora of talent and depth of quality players, it's just up to the players to play consistently. The team should compete for a top six finish and Europa League spot, but there still needs to be some adjustments if they want to do that. So what does the club need to do? Well, let's talk about that.
Find a striker
Here's the thing, this team has a ton of offensive talent. Richarlison is arguably their best offensive player and Gylfi Sigurdsson is probably their most important. But there are others who make them dangerous such as Bernard, Idrissa Gueye, Lucas Digne, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. They even have some depth with Theo Walcott, Cenk Tosun, Morgan Schneiderlin, Yannick Bolasie, and Ademola Lookman coming in as substitutes. However, they do not have an established striker to take them over the top. Losing Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United left a void and the team has been looking for an established one since. Calvert-Lewin was asked to fill in that role and they hope he can develop into that type of player, but he isn't quite as established there for what they need. Whoever the targets are this summer remains to be seen, but there's been speculation that Danny Welbeck of Arsenal, Aleksandar Mitrović of Fulham, or Bertrand Traoré of Lyon are the prime targets.
Keep Kurt Zouma and Andre Gomes
Zouma and Gomes were integral to the team last season. After coming over as loan transfers from Chelsea and Barcelona respectively, some of the biggest reasons why the late-season success occurred could be attributed to the contributions these two provided. Zouma helped a back line as he was a stable force at the left center back position. Gomes manned the right defensive midfielder position and was outstanding as he became a regular starter. Now that the season is over, the two players have to report back to their respective clubs, but the priority this transfer window is to retain those players and get them to be permanent transfers. Supposedly the two players combined according to Transfermarkt are worth £48 million, but they might have to spend a good portion more to secure their services. Gomes may actually be easier to retain as Gomes will have nowhere to play in Barcelona's midfield nor would likely get the consistent minutes he deserves as he doesn't fit into their offense, so look at him likely returning. Zouma, on the other, is a bit trickier. Chelsea is dealing with a transfer ban and is probably hoping to keep him especially with how thin their depth is at the backs, but that is all speculation. They might be willing to let him sign with Everton and everything will be all fine and dandy. That will be an interesting development to follow. If the squad cannot keep both of them, then Marco Silva and Marcel Brands will have to go out and try to find some players as replacements. Who they would target remains to be seen.
Make a decision at the right back position
Seamus Coleman is a good player, however, he has dealt with injuries and is 30, so some of his best playing days are behind him. While when healthy, he would be a quality choice as first choice. However, you cannot rely on him to be healthy. So this will be another area where the team has to decide what to do with. One possibility is letting another player such as Jonjoe Kenny or Mason Holgate to challenge Coleman as first choice or possibly going into the transfer market to find that replacement.
Shed the dead weight
That's a harsh way of putting it, but getting rid of players who haven't done much with the team and are costing them a lot is something that is needed. Marcel Brands has already expressed that he wants to cut the roster down by eight players going into this transfer window. Who they are remains to be seen, but expect some such as Cuco Martina and Ashley Williams being shown the door.
Keep Idrissa Gueye
There's been a lot of speculation that Gana will be moving this summer and losing him in the midfield would hurt a lot. He's been tied with PSG for a while now and finding someone to replace him could change a lot of things. He plays opposite of Gomes as he mans the left defensive midfielder position and is incredibly vital to the entire midfield.
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