• ‘I don’t think we would be selling because we need the money’
• Everton have had bid accepted for Cliftonville’s Ryan Donnelly
David Moyes has said Everton do not have to appease the banks by selling Jack Rodwell in January but admits the club’s financial position leaves them vulnerable to big offers for their coveted players.
Rodwell, Everton’s latest homegrown England international, has been strongly linked with a move to Chelsea when the transfer window reopens and though Moyes insists there has been no approach from the Stamford Bridge club so far, he was unable to provide assurances that the 20-year-old will not be sold after a year of substantial cost-cutting at Goodison Park.
Everton have raised approximately £30m in 2011 by trading in Mikel Arteta, Steven Pienaar, Jermaine Beckford, Yakubu Ayegbeni and James Vaughan, reducing their wage bill significantly in the process, plus selling their former Bellefield training ground. That enabled the club to fall into line with Barclays’ decision to cap its overdraft at £25m although, with only Royston Drenthe and Denis Stracqualursi signed on loan in the summer, the team has struggled and currently languish four points above the relegation zone.
Moyes insists the cuts have alleviated pressure from the banks to sell players in January. “I don’t think we would do it because of the circumstances as I think we got the money we needed back in the summer and I don’t think we would be selling because we need the money for the bank or anything like that just now,” he said.
The Everton manager said that it would therefore be a football decision if the club, which values Rodwell in the £20m bracket, does decide to cash in on another asset. “I’ve not heard any differently,” he said. “But we’ve not had a bid and we’ve not heard anything from Chelsea. All I can say is we’ve had zero contact. I don’t know what I could add to that.”
The Everton manager conceded, however, that financial constraints at a club £44.9m in debt continue to have a bearing on whether he accepts offers for players who may seek Champions League football elsewhere. “We have tried not to be that [a selling club] but times have changed, finances have changed and the position where Everton have moved to, our stature has grown and we have players that are good enough for the top teams. Maybe in the past there weren’t players at Everton who were good enough for the top teams but I think Everton have that now.
“We don’t want to be seen as a club which is preparing players for other clubs, I don’t certainly. David Moyes wants to be making sure that we have a team that is competing but obviously the players want to be successful, they want to be winning things and playing in teams that are winning games and that’s always something I need to consider as well.
“I still make the football decisions. Obviously there’s a little bit more business involved in it now where there’s other financial things that we always need to keep our eye on so not all of the decisions can be solely down to just what’s happening on the football field.”
But the Everton manager believes Rodwell’s immediate future is best served with his boyhood club, having progressed through the ranks to win his first senior England caps against Spain and Sweden and with more regular first-team football on offer at Goodison ahead of Euro 2012. He said: “There was a bit of speculation about Jack in the summer as well. Nothing came of it and I’m just looking at this one as a similar sort of speculation. Hopefully nothing will come of this one either. His development here has been good, he came on the scene very early but overall I will always think that players are better served being at Everton.”
Moyes believes his slender squad cannot be weakened further if Everton are to avoid the threat of relegation but, with just 11 days to go before the transfer window reopens, the amount he has available remains unclear. “We need to add to the squad for the second half of the season. For us to get the results we need we need to add to it,” said the Scot, who has had a £100,000 bid for the Cliftonville striker Ryan Donnelly accepted by the club and is awaiting a decision from the coveted 19-year-old.
Asked if he was confident that the Everton squad will be stronger when the transfer window closes, Moyes said: “I couldn’t be sure one way or the other. I would hope that we will be but it’s not a good market in January and it tends not to be a good time to spend your cash but we’ll be out looking.”
EvertonDavid MoyesTransfer windowChelseaAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk
