- How the loss of Ancelotti and appointment of Benítez shattered the fans optimism.
- Suspension of a £45m star midfielder and macabre connection to a global crime story.
- How a microscopic transfer budget signalled the end of Moshiri’s big-spending era.
Summers in football can be funny things. Despite the relative predictability of the Premier League, pre-season always carries an irresistible sense of optimism.
It brings a feeling of rebirth, of hope, of building for a better tomorrow. Even for an intrinsically pessimistic fanbase like Evertonians, there is still the sense that anything is possible – at least until the first ball is kicked in the opening game of the season and all that hope immediately evaporates.
But sometimes, a summer can go so catastrophically wrong that it completely snuffs out any sense of optimism. For Everton fans, the cruel summer of 2021 provides the ultimate example of how a club’s business can completely extinguish hope.
End of the 2020/21 Premier League season: Tempered optimism
The 2020/21 Premier League season had ended with a sense of tempered optimism at Goodison Park. Although a hoped-for European push had ultimately spluttered out, the Toffees still boasted a world-class manager in Carlo Ancelotti.
What’s more, Everton possessed genuine match-winning talent on the pitch, including:
- Richarlison
- James Rodríguez
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin (in career peak form)
The fans reasonably hoped that with another summer transfer window to build the squad, Ancelotti would turn those European dreams into a reality.
Bernabéu calling: Carlo Ancelotti leaves Everton for Real Madrid
That sense of hope didn’t last long. The season had barely ended when Real Madrid arrived to trample on Everton hearts. Out of nowhere, the Spanish giants offered Ancelotti their vacant manager’s position.
The Italian naturally packed his bags for the Bernabéu immediately, leaving Evertonians stranded and wondering who his replacement would be. As the board scrambled, names like Eddie Howe, Nuno Espírito Santo, and Frank Lampard quickly entered the mix.
The Rafa Benítez appointment: Decision that defied logic
To the horror of the fanbase, instead of opting for one of these names, Everton’s owner, Farhad Moshiri, turned instead to Rafa Benítez.
The decision defied logic. Aside from the Spaniard being long past his tactical sell-by date, Moshiri had hired an actual Liverpool FC legend – a man who had once famously branded Everton a “small club” during his time at Anfield. Benítez’s primary qualification for the Everton job seemed to be his Merseyside address; he simply knew which bus to take to the Finch Farm training ground.
Moshiri closes the cheque book: The infamous £1.7m transfer window
As if the managerial appointment wasn’t bad enough, Moshiri next chose to close the club’s cheque book. After successive summers of lavish spending, Everton began rooting through the football bargain bin.
The club signed three underwhelming players:
- Salomon Rondón (Free transfer)
- Andros Townsend (Free transfer)
- Demarai Gray (£1.7 million)
Everton spent a collective, shoestring fee of just £1.7 million to recruit this disappointing trio, suggesting that the boom times, at least in terms of spending, were over.
Shockwaves at Goodison: Gylfi Sigurðsson suspended
Yet, as dismal as the sporting situation looked, the summer of 2021 took an even darker turn when news broke that police had arrested Gylfi Sigurðsson.
Although the Crown Prosecution Service eventually dropped the case nearly two years later, the club immediately suspended their £45 million record signing. The Icelandic midfielder would never play a single minute for Everton again, instantly robbing the squad of one of its most creative elements.
Benitez compounded this disaster in September by forcing James Rodriguez from the team, leaving Everton woefully light in the creative department
From bad to bizarre: The Masten Wanjala mugshot
Just when Evertonians thought the summer could not yield any more grim headlines, the macabre entered the frame. In August, the international press began widely reporting the capture of Masten Wanjala, a self-confessed serial killer whom Kenyan police dubbed the “African Vampire.”
When global news outlets published the monster’s mugshot, it showed him wearing a prominent Everton home shirt.
Conclusion: How the summer from hell annihilated Everton’s optimism
The image served as the final, surreal insult to a torturous summer. In the span of just twelve weeks, Everton plummeted from the sophisticated heights of Carlo Ancelotti to the toxic appointment of Rafa Benítez.
The club’s dismal pre-season was staggering:
- A total transfer spend of just £1.7 million
- A police investigation into their star midfielder
- An accidental global association with a serial killer
By the time the referee blew the opening whistle in August, the tempered optimism of May hadn’t just dissipated—the summer from hell had completely annihilated it.
