Frank Lampard says it's ‘vital’ Everton get transfer signings right

Frank Lampard admits it is "vital" Everton get their recruitment right this summer if they are to avoid another season of struggle in the Premier League.

The Toffees manager is on the lookout for a new striker after last season's top scorer Richarlison left the club last week to join Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur in a deal that could be worth up to £60 million ($71.6m).

However, the Brazil international only registered 10 goals last term as Everton flirted with relegation for the majority of the campaign before sealing survival with a 3-2 win over Crystal Palace in their penultimate match.

With first-choice centre-forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin hampered by injuries, Everton's next-highest scorer in 2021/22 was Andros Townsend with just three league goals.

The departures of Fabian Delph, Cenk Tosun, Jonjoe Kenny and Gylfi Sigurdsson after the expiration of their contracts leave a number of places available, but Everton’s finances, having posted cumulative losses of more than £370m over the past three years, means a tightening of the Goodison Park purse strings.

Owner Farhad Moshiri, who is in discussions to sell the club, has spent more than £500m on players during his six-year tenure, but precious few have turned out to be a success or provided anything close to value for money.

Lampard has been working closely with new director of football Kevin Thelwell to identify transfer targets and said Everton face a "big challenge" to get the right players to steer the club on an upwards trajectory.

Everton appointed Thelwell in February, a month after Lampard arrived, so this will be their first proper transfer window at the club.

Richarlison leaves Everton for Spurs

“Recruitment – and who goes out – is a huge part of any football club,” Lampard told evertonfc.com.

“Particularly when you are a manager who comes in mid-season.

“The transfer window shut one day after I joined, so you work with the players you have straight away.

“But when you look forward, you think about how you can strengthen in different areas, ‘How would this look?’. It is vital to get that right.

“It will be a big challenge for me and the club … to make sure we go in the right direction, because it is clear we don’t want to be fighting relegation and recruitment will be a big part of that.”

The consortium attempting to buy the club insist it is still interested despite claims Moshiri had ceased negotiations.

50 notable summer transfers

An initial period of exclusivity expired late last week and it was suggested that had ended the process. The Press Association reported it believes the group, headed by former Chelsea and Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon and bankrolled by United States real estate tycoon Maciek Kaminski and billionaire mining and investment magnate John Thornton, has applied for an extension to the exclusivity.

It is understood there were more talks over the weekend but KAM Sports, the company set up by the Kaminski family to buy “premier international sports assets”, are unhappy with the amount of public debate taking place.

“As a general principle, we prefer to conduct our business in private to create the fairest environment for those involved – and in this particular situation, to minimise uncertainty for fans of Everton,” said a statement.

“It is regrettable that this has not been possible. We respectfully remain interested in acquiring the club as we believe its fans deserve nothing less than the best, and our offer to achieve this stands.

“However, in consideration of all Everton fans, we will not be making further public comments at this time.”