Sean Dyche has likened his job as Everton’s manager to “juggling sand” amid protracted uncertainty over the club’s ownership and financial future.
Dyche admits there will be no assurances over his summer transfer plans even in the event of securing the club’s Premier League status on Saturday. Everton can guarantee survival with victory against Brentford at Goodison Park providing Luton do not win at Wolves.
With 777 Partners unable to convince the Premier League it has the funds to complete a proposed takeover of Everton after seven months, and the owner, Farhad Moshiri, maintaining the controversial US investment firm are “the right partners”, the club’s future remains uncertain. Everton are at risk of entering administration should the takeover fall through.
Dyche confirmed his rebuilding plans would remain on hold while a vacuum exists at the top of the club. Asked whether securing Everton’s Premier League status with three games to spare would help his summer transfer strategy, he replied: “In this case it doesn’t really matter because the club is still in this flux of ownership. But usually the earlier you get things done, the quicker you can plan the next steps.
“We are sort of planning it anyway – myself, Kev [Kevin Thelwell, the director of football], staff and scouts – and are trying to plan for: ‘What if this happens? What if that happens?’ We are trying to keep an open mind but then you still go to your staples: the players we have got here, who is going to be here? It’s another juggling act of the club. Since I’ve been here it’s juggling sand.”
Decisions on the immediate future of several first-team players are overdue. Idrissa Gueye, Séamus Coleman, Ashley Young, André Gomes and Dele Alli are out of contract at the end of this season, when loan deals for Jack Harrison and Arnaut Danjuma also expire.
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“I am waiting to see the realities of what we can and can’t do,” Dyche said. “It’s been a constant here, and not just about players. There’s always something going on here; as I say it’s like juggling sand. How do you master that? Every time we go: ‘Yes, that’s good,’ something crops up and it’s: ‘That’s not good, now we have to solve that.’ It’s like putting your fingers in the dam. It’s the same with players at the moment. Because the club is in this flux we can’t guarantee one way or the other so we are shifting, moving and moulding things as we can.”