Everton 2023-24 Season Review: Players That Left the Club

06/03/2024 01:52 PM

The Blues saw many a player leave over the last year, but how are they doing away from Goodison Park??

With the 2023-24 season coming to a close, we are into our season review series with a look at the players that will be leaving the club at the end of this month.

Players come, and players go; such is football and life in so many ways. While Everton's 2022-23 campaign appraised the likes of Richarlison, Anthony Gordon, Lucas Digne and others, those who left before, during, and after the 2023-24 campaign were a varied mixture of players and talents - some with long tenures on Merseyside, and others simply passing through.

The final departure of Moise Kean likely caused little stirring in the hearts of Toffees across the world, as his impact since arriving from Juventus several years ago has been underwhelming to say the least - not even Don Carlo Ancelotti could find that talent that made him so coveted during his early years in Turin.

Yet departures like Alex Iwobi were tough for the fanbase to swallow outside of the financial benefits of doing so; better-run clubs, however, might not have had to lose such a player to a side only marginally better than it.

And there are more, of course. Many players left the side over the past year, and we will do our best to detail them and their subsequent journeys, but - to be sure - not all have found greater fortune since leaving the north of England.

Meanwhile, Everton as a team are likely through the hardest portions of this stretch of play, which has seen relegation battles, fired bosses, and tired supporters who don't want the club to end up as the Tottenham of Merseyside; winning is crucial, and trophies remain the watchword.

And so, with all of that noted and said, here we take a look at how each of these no-longer-present players fared last term.

Moise Kean

Sold to Juventus for €30m

Given the way that the now 24-year-old Moise Kean played during his time with Everton - while not on loan somewhere else - receiving €30m for the wantaway centre forward was a financial boon for a side that continues to struggle with its finances; but after how he played upon his return to the north of Italy, however, it appears that the Blues are, for once in recent memory, the swindlers and not the swindled.

Moise Kean played in 20 matches for Juventus across Serie A and cup competitions and earned more yellow cards - one - than combined goals and assists - 0; that is not a great return on the investment from the Italian perspective, but the Toffees actually were able to pull an extra €3 for the player than they first paid for him.

While Everton might have gotten better out of him during the extended absences of Dominic Calvert-Lewin this past season, the money certainly was crucial to keep the side closer to the right side of financial fair play regulations. As for the player, Moise Kean is still a relatively young man, but will have to rediscover the form that Everton once coveted.

Alex Iwobi

Sold to Fulham for €25.7m

The sale of Alex Iwobi was equal parts understandable and frustrating. The former Arsenal man had found his North London form since the departure of former boss Frank Lampard, and that, of course, attracted attention. Former Blues boss Marco Silva coveted the player that he first brought up to the north of England years ago, and made the correct moves to bring him back to London - this time for Fulham.

Yet Alex Iwobi was only able to contribute six goals and two assists across all of the competitions he played in for the side. For what Fulham paid for the player, they might have wanted a bit more, but as is known, it takes time for players to settle into clubs - even those where they know some coaches or players. And, to be fair, Fulham's team was certainly less intimidating in the final third this season than the previous when the side had Championship cheat code Aleksander Mitrovic.

Still, the former Blues utility man played well for the side, and Everton certainly benefited from the money that his sale generated; both player and selling team will likely be better in the coming seasons than in this particular campaign in question, which means that the departure likely was the right move for all involved parties. On a side struggling to create chances, the inventive presence and indefatigable running of Iwobi would have certainly helped this season where the burden of creativity was solely placed upon the shoulders of Dwight McNeil.

Demarai Gray

Sold to Al-Ettifaq for €9.3m

Demarai Gray is an enigma. A hot starter each season - no matter where he plays - the diminutive winger tends to slow down once the grind of a season really bears its teeth, and he simply was not big enough to fit into the scheme and style that boss Sean Dyche traditionally envisions for his sides.

His sale to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq was, as so many Saudi purchases have been to teams across Europe, a major boon. It did not seem likely that the Blues would get nearly €10m for the player from anyone else, and certainly, those funds help refill the coffers that have been previously poured into all sorts of ill-conceived transfer targets; but how did the player do this past year?

His four goals and four assists provided about as much for Al-Ettifaq as Alex Iwobi did for Fulham and for about a third of the price too. He played better for Steven Gerrard's Al Ettifaq than Arnaut Danjuma did for Everton - and some might argue Jack Harrison as well.

But his sale was important for the books, and Sean Dyche was able to try out other, larger figures with differing skillsets to replace the departed winger. All-in-all, Gray is likely on the downside of his career, and it remains unlikely that another team get as large a fee for the player as the Toffees managed to do; a transfer success was achieved here, in other words.

Thomas Cannon

Sold to Leicester City for €8.8m

Everton sold Thomas Cannon to Leicester City for just a bit less than they sold Demarai Gray for, and while the latter is nearing his 30s, Cannon is still a young, talented player with great potential. The Toffees, much to their chagrin, will get to see him two times this year, in fact, as Leicester has returned to the Premier League after a year away - albeit without a boss now.

The 21-year-old played a fringe role on the side, and even while playing in only 13 games, managed two goals and an assist for the foxes. Depending on who Leicester decides should run the team after Chelsea swooped for Enzo Maresca, will likely play a part in determining the future of Cannon in the midlands, but at only 21, the player will surely be looking for further opportunities to improve and demonstrate his abilities.

With how the season evolved last year, Cannon - like Kean - might have offered Dyche and co. another option in attack during those months when injuries and sanctions were sapping the team of their strength. Yet his sale was as much a financial move as a practical, footballing move, and we can only wish the player well on his journey - assuming his future success leaves the Toffees unscathed this season and beyond.

Ellis Simms

Sold to CoventryCity for €7m

Stop me if you've heard this before. Everton sold an attacking player that didn't exactly fit into Sean Dyche's playing scheme, only to suffer through a season where procuring goals was like finding a needle in a haystack.

The 23-year-old was someone that many across Merseyside considered could one day be a vital part of the first team at Goodison Park and Finch Farm, but the boss and Kevin Thelwell had other ideas.

The player was sold to Coventry for less than Tom Cannon and Demarai Gray, Alex Iwobi and Moise Kean - but you wouldn't know it by appraising the stat sheets.

While the other players had either failing or modest campaign, Ellis Simms had 13 goals and an assist on the year. Could he have replicated that form over 40+ matches at Everton like at Coventry? Likely not, but could the side have used him all the same? Absolutely.

While the other sales have this writer's sanction, this surely must be considered, even at this early stage, a mistake. Ellis Simms will be heard from across the rest of his career, and the Toffees will be thrilled should the sale never come back to directly impair them; that, however, cannot be guaranteed, and the better the player gets, the less likely the Blues escape unscathed from the transaction.

Niels Nkounkou

Sold to Saint-Étienne/Eintracht Frankfurt for €2m

Everyone loves to go on about Jared Branthwaite and what a marvelous signing he was during the Don Carlo Ancelotti and Marcel Brand days. Niels Nkounkou, however, was the more heralded signing from that same era, and while he appeared to show early promise, his tale is a cautionary one concerning how the boss so often makes the player, even while the player ultimately makes the boss.

Sold to French Ligue 1 side Saint-Étienne for just €2m, the player quickly was sold to German side Eintracht Frankfurt just months later. There, in the Bundesliga, the player collected three goals and three assists, proving his worth after being shipped away for a pittance.

In a season which saw injuries at the fullback positions as well as up top at the centre-forward position, Niels could have provided further cover for a team that needed money badly enough to sell players for less than their practical value; money problems, after all, only cause and spawn further, practical problems in their wake.

Yerry Mina

Free Transfer to Fiorentina/Cagliari

Once a massive transfer swoop by the Toffees, and a player who noticeably improved the Everton defense when he was available, his lack of availability and skillset left him on the outs at Finch Farm and Goodison with the arrival of Sean Dyche and many of his former Burnley players.

And so, Yerry left - nicely, might this writer add - and went to Italy to play for Fiorentina and Cagliari, the Viola selling his rights to Cagliari just six months into his contract during the 2024 January winter transfer window. He played in Europe and cup competitions as well as Serie A of course, and got two goals and an assist for his troubles. He also had four clean sheets in the Italian domestic league, but continued to be plagued with injuries, missing two months across his half-season each with the two sides.

Would he have been useful for Everton this past season? Yes, at points, but would the wages have been worth it? It is hard to say. Yet it is all theoretical; Yerry will continue his Italian adventures, while the Blues look to build off of a strong central defensive partnership between James Tarkowski and Jared Branthwaite - even as the former is eyed by the biggest clubs around the world for a big money transfer.

Neal Maupay

Loan to Brentford

Neal Maupay seems to play better at any club other than Everton. His stats with Brighton seemed similar to the numbers he put up at his previous club - Brentford - and so the Blues could've been forgiven for considering that he might do much of the same for their team. They were, of course, mistaken.

Maupay did not cover himself in glory as a member of Everton Football Club, but did show when he was brought into Merseyside upon his return to London town.

He managed eight goals and four assists for the side that was missing talisman Ivan Toney for much of the year, but even when he returned, the Frenchman seemed more comfortable with Thomas Frank than with Sean Dyche.

He was simply not a great fit with the team, and his departure was likely in the best interests of all relevant parties as well.

Asmir Begovic

Free Transfer to Queens Park Rangers

With Joan Virginia as the number two behind Jordan Pickford in goal, Asmir Begovic was free to carry on his marathon goalkeeping career at historical side QPR this season, leaving Merseyside on a free transfer during the previous summer.

And in 45 appearances for the side, the elder statesman did reasonably well. He gave up 57 goals but did have 13 clean sheets. Appraising those numbers, one might suggest that, for Begovic and QPR each, when it rained last season, it poured.

Begovic is capable of doing this type of work across the world moving forward. His age is 36 right now, but for a goalkeeper, that's like being 29. Whether he continues at QPR or elsewhere remains to be seen, but the player needn't have wasted a year of his career staying at Everton.

Mason Holgate & Tom Davies

Loaned and free-transferred to Sheffield United

Mason Holgate and Tom Davies each ended up at newly promoted Sheffield United this season, despite taking different paths there; they might ultimately have both wished they had not, however.

The Blades this season were a miserable bunch, scoring few goals and allowing many. They were rewarded for this by a last-place finish with just three wins, 16 points, and many lopsided losses.

Tom Davies left Everton last summer and went to United on a free transfer to work with then-boss Paul Heckingbottom, while Holgate was loaned to the now newly-promoted Southampton.

Davies, however, played as marginal a role on United as he did on Everton. He had nine appearances, two yellow cards, and no offensive contributions whatsoever; his best contribution to the side was likely his remarkable fashion sense.

Holgate, meanwhile, was not to Southampton's liking, and so he was soon returned back to Merseyside and to a team that would rather play without him. And so, when United came calling about utilizing the defensive player for themselves, the Toffees were surely chuffed to move the player on once again; his second departure covered him in no more glory than the first, however.

In 17 matches across all competitions this season, Holgate managed five yellow cards and a red card, with no goal contributions other than those which he helped the other team to score.

There was a point where Mason Holgate looked like a future piece along with Ben Godfrey, but those days are long gone, and the former will have a great deal of work to do to match even the now-tempered expectations of the latter.

Andros Townsend & Jean-Philippe Gbamin

Released

Andros Townsend, likely future announcer and analyst, was a faithful player for Everton during his relatively short tenure on the team, and while injuries hampered his success as much as anyone else's, we do have memories of wondergoals and foresighted assists from his healthy days.

His departure was likely a matter of freshening up the age of the squad, but Townsend would be signed by newly-relegated side Luton Town at the start of October 2023. There, he provided across 31 matches one goal and three assists for a side that put up a much better fight than many expected they'd be able to.

Wherever he plays next though, is likely to be one of the player's final stops on what has been a positive and useful career across many, many years.

Jean-Philippe Gbamin, however, is one of the saddest footballing tales that Everton has in its locker. The player arrived years ago as the future at the base of Everton's shape, acting as a defensive ball winner and transitional player from the back four up into the midfield and ever onward.

Yet injuries haunted the player almost immediately, and he never was able to even really demonstrate his ability in any meaningful way. The best evidence of the talent that the side has lost out on comes from footage of his career before joining Everton. It is truly a cautionary tale for those who think that a dream can persist forever without interruption; as has been noted "The best-laid plans of mice and men oft' go awry".

The Ivory Coast international joined French second division side USL Dunkerque in November where he's featured in 21 games, scoring twice and assisting once from his defensive midfield position.

TRANSFER RECORD

Arrivals/Departure Fees:

Income: €82.80m

Expenditures: €40.50m

Overall balance: +€42.30m

Click here for the full 2023-24 Everton Season Review series where we recap every aspect of the campaign that just ended.