Everton have gained a reputation for transfer disasters since Farhad Moshiri became the majority stakeholder at Goodison Park, but it is clear that Frank Lampard is keen to rectify the poor decisions of the past since his arrival in January.
Indeed, the Toffees signed eight new players in the summer but they also got rid of a lot of the deadwood either on a loan deal or permanent move away from the club and it remains to be seen whether the club have done enough to improve Everton’s fate in the Premier League after a difficult relegation scrap last season.
In the summer there were several players sent packing including Allan, Cenk Tosun, Dele Alli, Andre Gomes and Jean-Philippe Gbamin, and now the club must continue their pursuit to rebuild and redevelop the squad.
One of the players who was sent out on loan and could return to the club at the end of the season is Portuguese midfielder Gomes and has been recently lavished with praise for his performances over the last few months with OSC Lille.
French news outlet Le11 has dubbed the Everton player ‘outstanding’ and ‘perfect’ in a review of his loan spell at the Ligue One club so far and there is not doubt his performances have been good.
Over nine appearances, the 29-year-old – who was once dubbed a “walking red card” by The Athletic’s Greg O’Keeffe – has successfully completed 60% of his dribbles and tallied up an 85% pass completion rate, as well as averaging 1.7 tackles, one clearance and 3.7 duels won per game.
Gomes felt out of favour on Merseyside after failing to impress the former Chelsea boss when he arrived at the club in January and it became clear in the summer when Lampard signed James Garner, Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gana Gueye that the player is no longer in his plans.
Whilst Gomes’ performances have improved the powers at Goodison Park can seize the opportunity to earn some much-needed transfer funds for the January transfer window ahead, meaning that Lampard can finally ditch the player and reinvest any money made in fresh talent for the team.