Former Everton director of football Steve Walsh has revealed that the club failed to back him on deals for former Hull City defenders Andy Robertson and Harry Maguire, as well as the much sought after Erling Braut Haaland during his time at the club.
Twitter: • Harry Maguire • Andy Robertson • Erling Haaland Former Everton director of football Steve Walsh has claimed he a… https://t.co/LolxvjYx6b (@btsportfootball)
Walsh joined Everton having masterminded the recruitment policy that saw Leicester City win an unprecedented Premier League title in 2016. It was hoped that he would be able to perform similar miracles at Goodison Park, but according to the man himself, he was restricted by an uncompromising board.
One such deal saw Everton miss out on the cut-price signatures of Robertson and Maguire upon the pairs relegation to the Championship in 2017. In a cruel stroke of double irony for both Walsh and Everton, Maguire would go on to sign for Walsh’s former club Leicester before being sold on to Manchester United for a world record £80 million fee. Robertson, on the other hand, joined Merseyside rivals Liverpool later that season, going on to reach back to back Champions League finals.
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Haaland is still unproven on the biggest stage but his scintillating goalscoring form in this season’s Champions League has attracted the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs. Walsh was reportedly in line to wrap up a £3.4 million deal for the Norwegian but with the Everton board unwilling to back him negotiations broke down and the 19-year-old now looks set to leave RB Salzburg for more than ten times the price reported by Walsh.
The success of summer arrival Lucas Digne has somewhat justified Everton’s decision not to pursue a deal for Robertson. There will however be large murmurings of discontent over the way the board handled negotiations with Maguire and Haaland.
Marco Silva’s team are in desperate need of an out and out striker to spearhead their attack, and with Kurt Zouma returning to Chelsea after a successful loan spell Everton lack a physical presence to partner Michael Keane at the heart of the defence.
