- Moshiri-era recruitment mistakes left Everton chasing costly recovery.
- Several expensive signings failed to justify lofty expectations.
- New ownership must avoid repeating damaging transfer errors.
The end of Farhad Moshiri’s ownership has allowed Everton to begin looking forward again.
The Friedkin Group inherited a club that had (just) survived successive relegation battles, navigated significant financial pressures and spent years trying to correct mistakes made in the transfer market.
While there were some successes during Moshiri’s tenure, too many expensive signings failed to deliver either on the pitch or as long-term investments.
Those recruitment decisions played a major role in Everton’s decline from a club pushing for European qualification to one fighting to preserve its Premier League status.
As Everton prepare for their second season at the Hill Dickinson, here is a look at the five worst signings of the Moshiri era.
5. Jean-Philippe Gbamin
Jean-Philippe Gbamin’s inclusion comes with an important caveat.
Unlike others on this list, his struggles at Everton were driven primarily by injury rather than poor performances or questionable recruitment. Signed from Mainz in 2019 for a reported fee of around £25 million, the midfielder arrived as the club’s chosen replacement for Idrissa Gueye.
On paper, the move appeared logical. Gbamin was entering his prime years and had established himself in the Bundesliga.
However, a succession of serious injuries restricted him to only a handful of appearances. Everton invested heavily in a player who was ultimately unable to contribute, leaving the club with a significant gap to fill in midfield and little return on a major financial commitment.
While misfortune played a substantial role, the outcome was still damaging.
4. Sandro Ramirez
Ramirez represented the type of transfer Everton hoped would become commonplace under Moshiri.
The striker arrived from Malaga in 2017 after an impressive season in La Liga, with Everton activating a relatively modest release clause. The deal appeared to offer strong value and significant potential upside.
Instead, it quickly became one of the club’s most disappointing signings.
Sandro struggled to adapt to English football and never established himself in Ronald Koeman’s side. He scored only once for Everton before embarking on a series of loan spells and eventually departing permanently.
Given the limited financial outlay compared to others on this list, Sandro’s position is lower than it might otherwise have been. Nevertheless, the transfer highlighted Everton’s recurring inability to translate promising recruitment ideas into successful outcomes.
3. Yannick Bolasie
Bolasie was one of the first major signings of the Moshiri era and, in many ways, one of the most symbolic.
Everton paid around £25 million to bring the winger to Goodison Park from Crystal Palace in 2016. While Bolasie had proven himself as an effective Premier League player, the fee raised eyebrows at the time.
His Everton career was then severely disrupted by a serious knee injury suffered during his first season at the club.
The injury was undoubtedly unfortunate and changed the trajectory of his spell on Merseyside. However, the transfer still serves as an example of Everton paying a premium for a player who ultimately provided little long-term value.
Bolasie was not solely responsible for the problems that followed, but his signing became one of the earliest indicators that Everton’s recruitment strategy lacked the discipline required to sustain progress.
2. Cenk Tosun
When Everton signed Tosun from Besiktas in January 2018 for a reported £27 million, the expectation was clear.
The club needed a reliable goalscorer and believed the Turkish international could provide the solution.
Tosun produced occasional moments of quality and worked hard throughout his time at Everton, but he never established himself as the consistent Premier League striker the club required.
For a fee of that size, Everton needed a player capable of transforming their attack. Instead, they received a forward who managed only sporadic contributions before gradually falling down the pecking order.
The transfer reflected a wider issue that emerged repeatedly during the Moshiri years: short-term recruitment decisions made at significant cost.
1. Davy Klaassen
Few signings better encapsulate Everton’s recruitment problems under Moshiri than Klaassen.
Signed from Ajax in 2017 for approximately £23.6 million, Klaassen arrived with an impressive reputation. He was Ajax captain, an established international and widely regarded as one of the Eredivisie’s most intelligent midfielders.
Yet the move never looked convincing from the moment he arrived.
Klaassen struggled to adapt to the pace and physicality of the Premier League and quickly fell out of favour. After just one season, Everton sold him to Werder Bremen having received almost no meaningful contribution from a player expected to improve the starting XI immediately.
What makes Klaassen’s transfer particularly significant is that the failure cannot simply be attributed to the player.
He went on to rebuild his career successfully elsewhere, suggesting Everton signed a talented footballer without fully understanding how he would fit within the squad. That lack of strategic planning became a recurring theme throughout the Moshiri era.
For that reason, Klaassen remains the defining recruitment error of the period.
Everton’s next chapter must be different
The lesson from these transfers is not that spending money is inherently risky.
Rather, it is that recruitment without a coherent long-term strategy rarely delivers sustainable success.
Everton’s difficulties during the latter stages of the Moshiri era were influenced by many factors, but poor transfer decisions repeatedly undermined the club’s progress and contributed to the financial pressures that followed.
As David Moyes and The Friedkin Group shape Everton’s future, avoiding similar mistakes will be every bit as important as identifying the right signings.
The club’s next chapter will not be defined by how much it spends, but by how wisely it spends it.
