Wednesday 12 January 2011

Moyes struggles to balance the books

It says a lot for Everton’s finances that David Moyes has to loan a striker to a Championship club - who will cover all his wages - in order to fund a loan signing.

But as the Scot desperately searches for a striker he is forced to release one of his current crop – admittedly one who has only scored once in 15 games – in order to have enough cash to do so.

The financial restraints at Everton are bordering ridiculous levels now. All the big money signings since 2005 have been funded either by the sales of Wayne Rooney and Joleon Lescott or on loans guaranteed against future income.

Now the well has run dry any money the club brings in though TV deals etc.. flows straight out on the players wages. Moyes has assembled a talented squad at Goodison no question, and one that has to earn big money if they are to stick around. But the imminent departure of Steven Pienaar, who rejected a £60,000 a week offer in order to get £70,000 a week over four years at Tottenham, highlights the problem David Moyes faces.

He desperately wants to keep his squad together, but with no cash to improve the pressure rises when results don’t go as planned – as we have found this season. Those big players then start to get restless, and so the team will start to slowly break up. Recent wins over Spurs and Scunthorpe have raised hopes of a better season than first anticpated, but with such a small squad any sort of injury crisis could be catastrophic.

Bill Kenwright’s determination to only sell to the right bidder is admirable, but if Moyes continues to be forced to work with little or no money then Kenwright will damage the club just as much as if he sold to an unscrupulous owner.

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