Everton 2023-24 Season Review: Potential Transfer Departures

With the 2023-24 season coming to a close, we continue our season review series with a look at the players that could be leaving the team this summer.

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It’s been a rough few years at Everton, who have had to deal with the consequences of wild spending on players and salaries during the first half of the Farhad Moshiri era — not commensurate with a growth in the club’s revenue streams. Those days seem long ago, and since a final splurge during Carlo Ancelotti’s time failed to secure qualification for Europe - and the profits resulting from that - his successors have been forced to operate within a cost-cutting environment.

The Blues were twice penalized points for breaches of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules last term, and are determined to avoid future sanction, hence the team being proactive in making sales before the June 30th cut-off for the current financial year. The sale of Lewis Dobbin to Aston Villa for an estimated £10m over the weekend will push the Merseyside outfit closer to getting over the line and will stave off any pressure to dispense with valuable assets - like Jarrad Branthwaite - for a knockdown fee.

Everton will still have to sell additional players after the end of this month, as PSR will rear its ugly head for the succeeding financial year, so the club is not out of the woods yet. However, with promising new ownership just around the corner, in the form of AS Roma owners the Friedkin Group, we may be entering the beginning of the end of this harrowing, uncertain and unstable period.

That said, here I will have a look at those players who the Toffees would like to move on, as well as those who may feasibly be targeted by other clubs. I will provide a ballpark valuation of the player aggregated from a couple of websites, along with my own estimate of a probable fee they may fetch.

Jarrad Branthwaite

Evaluation: £28.9m

Following on from an impressive stint on loan at Eredivisie side PSV during the previous season, the young defender took his chance with both hands when given an opportunity to start alongside James Tarkowski at the heart of the Blues defence last term. I’d had misgivings about whether the 22-year-old would be ready to step up to the challenge of regular Premier League football, but the Cumbrian had grown enormously during his time in the Netherlands, showing the value in a well-thought-out temporary move for a developing player.

Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images

Over the course of 41 starts and more than 3,600 minutes in all competitions, Branthwaite demonstrated that he was one of the most outstanding young central defenders in Europe. Accordingly, there’s been a lot of interest in the club’s crown jewel, with Manchester United first to act with a shockingly derisory £35m offer, dismissed by Everton in short order. Whether the parsimonious Red Devils will chance their arm again with a more serious offer remains to be seen. The club is under no pressure to sell and surely won’t, unless a truly huge amount - probably north of £70m - is put on the table.

Verdict: retain

Jordan Pickford

Evaluation: £23.9m

JP was a controversial inclusion in this list last term, and he’s here again this summer. The Blues goalkeeper was beaten by opponents 48 times from a PSxG (Post-Shot Expected Goals) metric of 52.4; in other words, preventing 4.4 goals that the data suggests should have been scored. That’s actually Pickford’s most effective campaign since this statistical measure was introduced, seven years ago. He’s undeniably a quality player for the Blues and is arguably peaking, at 30 years of age.

The ex-Sunderland man is happy at the club and is under contract for another three years, but good players will always attract interest, even if bids appear unlikely at this time. It would surely take a substantial offer, in excess of £40m, to tempt the Blues into sanctioning a move.

Verdict: retain

Ben Godfrey

Evaluation: £6.2m

Four years on from the defender’s arrival, for a hefty £23.4m fee, his time at the club seems certain to end very shortly, with Everton having accepted a very welcome £10m offer from Serie A outfit, Atalanta. The Italians, who won the Europa League last month, have been pursuing Godfrey for some time and look to have captured their man, barring any last-minute hitches. The Bergamo club traditionally favour a back three setup, which should favour the rapid, athletic, yet undersized 26-year-old.

The former Norwich City man showed commendable professionalism last term, playing just one league minute by December, but stepping in to perform competently as a stand-in right back, ending up making 13 starts. Considering his limitations as a full back and previous unsatisfactory play at centre half, it was surprising that Everton chose to offer him a new contract, but the player has shown ambition in looking for a new chapter, rather than accepting a backup role. Few will wish him anything but the best.

Verdict: sell

Nathan Patterson

Evaluation: £9.1m

The Scot was a regular in the starting line-up during the first half of last season, but was benched whenever other options were available and barely featured after the turn of the year. Injury struck again late in the campaign, forcing Patterson to miss out on his nation’s participation in the ongoing UEFA European Championships. He’s been at Everton now for two and a half years, but found himself fourth choice right back, behind two ageing players, in Seamus Coleman and Ashley Young and - most jarringly - a centre half, in Godfrey.

Photo by Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images

The 22-year-old has been beset by injury since arriving at the club, has not noticeably improved, and is clearly not favoured by Dyche. Patterson’s remaining book value is £6.5m and the club would be able to attract bids for at least that amount this summer, should he be made available.

Verdict: sell

Michael Keane

Evaluation: £3.4m

Sadly, no such interest has manifested around the ex-England defender, who is now entering the final year of his deal. The ex-Burnley man saw his playing time diminish even further last season, down to a paltry 440 minutes in the league, along with a few FA Cup outings. Considering that Everton are paying Keane as a starter, this amount of action represents a poor return. Still, Dyche clearly trusts the centre back, who shows no apparent desire to quit the club, so it looks as though the now 31-year-old will see out his final months in Liverpool as veteran cover.

Verdict: sell

Mason Holgate

Evaluation: £3.2m

Unlike Keane, Holgate at least demonstrated a willingness to move on in search of first team football last season, with his race apparently run at the Toffees. Unfortunately, a loan move to Championship outfit Southampton did not go to plan and a step back up to the top flight in January with Sheffield United wasn’t much better — although at least he did play regularly. The defender’s prospects at Everton appear bleak, but it’s tough to imagine any permanent move manifesting this summer. Another loan looks to be the best bet.

Verdict: sell or loan

Amadou Onana

Evaluation: £28.5m

A relative novice when bought by the Blues for £30m two years ago, the midfielder has racked up 72 appearance for the club in all competitions. Physically imposing, mobile, confident and composed on the ball, the Belgian ticks a lot of recruitment boxes and has been linked with clubs operating in the Champions League almost from the beginning of his Everton career. Now 22, Onana is a regular international, having accrued 16 caps since arriving on Merseyside.

Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images

Dyche’s style of play, which is to go from back to front as quickly as possible, does not suit Onana, who would be better in a team which emphasizes possession. Everton will need to make at least one significant sale during the 2024/25 financial year, and the former Lille man offers the greatest return for the smallest impact on the team. With his profile rising due to Belgium’s progression in the Euros, the Blues should be looking at a fee of no less than £60m for an already good player who has plenty of room to improve.

Verdict: sell

Abdoulaye Doucoure

Evaluation: £6.6m

The Malian only signed an extension in November, but is now entering into the final year of that deal. Reinstated into the starting line up when Dyche arrived, his goals were key to Everton’s survival during the 2022-23 campaign and during the first half of last season. There was a noticeable drop-off in his contribution over the last few months, however, and it has to be noted that he’s the club’s highest earner.

I’d like to see Doucoure dropped back into midfield this term, but should an offer for the player in the region of £10m materialize - possibly from the Middle East, then the club would be foolish not to at least consider it.

Verdict: sell (maybe)

Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Evaluation: £14.6m

In one sense, last season was a major success for the striker, who avoided any real problems after two injury-blighted campaigns. In another, a return of seven goals for the team’s primary front man was less than impressive. At one point, Calvert-Lewin failed to find the back of the net for a staggering 18 consecutive league matches, although his importance to the team’s style of play and a lack of viable trusted alternatives meant he retained his starting berth.

The forward is attracting significant interest from a number of teams, most recently Newcastle United, who are looking to replace the ageing Callum Wilson. A strong finish to the campaign, as well as 32 league appearances, has elevated DCL’s marketability and with the striker not looking to extend his current deal, which expires next year, the club is entertaining bids. I’m expecting the 27-year-old to go for something around £25m at some stage this summer.

Verdict: sell

Beto

Evaluation: £14.4m

Seeing as the Portuguese only arrived last summer, for a substantial fee which the Toffees have not yet begun to pay off, he may seem a strange inclusion on this list. However, Beto did not impress in his debut campaign - scoring only three league goals - and Dyche appeared loathe to turn to him. The striker accrued less than 1,000 minutes of top-flight action, starting just nine times. Towards the end of the season rumours started appearing that the player and/or his manager were unhappy with his game time and would be exploring exit routes.

Photo by Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images

False links to Fenerbahce made the press last week, but these sort of stories don’t appear in a vacuum, and are pushed out to outlets by one party or another, potentially to drum up interest in an unhappy player. If so, we can expect to see further rumours appearing over the summer. The 26-year-old should possess attributes which make him well suited to Dyche’s football, but for all his size he lacks the hold-up play required from a target man. He looks uncultured, but was probably the best option available with the limited funds Everton had a year ago. Beto’s current book value is £16m and should the club receive an offer for that amount, they’d be well advised to take the deal.

Verdict: sell

Neal Maupay

Evaluation: £9m

The decision to sign the Frenchman two years ago looked to be a questionable one at the time, but proved much worse than anticipated. After finding the back of the net just once in 29 outings, the striker was offloaded on loan to former club Brentford last season. Despite Maupay looking competent again away from Everton, the Bees elected not to utilize the included option to sign him permanently. There’s no chance that he’ll kick a ball for the Blues again, so the club will be forced to hawk him around this summer too.

He’s not a terrible player, as he showed last term and the Toffees brain trust should be able to find him a new home. Maupay’s moderate wages will not be an impediment, and with a book value of just £3.3m, a sale for a modest amount - say £5m - would present a small trading profit.

Verdict: sell

Note: The figures given for player evaluation are an average of those provided by transfermarkt.com and footballtransfers.com