- Everton will eventually need to plan for life after Idrissa Gana Gueye
- A like-for-like replacement is not the club’s only option
- David Moyes could use the opportunity to reshape Everton’s midfield
The Toffees’ search for a striker has dominated much of the conversation this summer. Today in particular.
That’s hardly surprising.
Everton need more goals, and the links with Liam Delap and Loïs Openda speak for themselves. Nobody is pretending otherwise.
But while everyone is looking at centre-forwards, another question lingers…. especially as, reportedly, talks around a contract extension have stalled.
What happens when Idrissa Gana Gueye steps aside?
And, perhaps more importantly, why does Everton automatically need another Gana?
Evertonians love a midfield battler
There is a reason Gueye remains so popular.
Everton supporters have always appreciated a midfielder willing to do the dirty stuff. The Dogs of War years left a lasting impression, and there will always be room in the hearts of Evertonians for players who tackle first and ask questions later.
Gueye belongs in that group.
Week after week, he breaks up attacks, covers ground and does the sort of dirty work that often goes unnoticed … at least until it disappears.
The problem is that Everton’s midfield has often looked broadly similar for years.
Different names on the back of the shirt. Much the same approach.
Hard-working. Honest. Competitive.
But rarely creative.
Does it have to be another Gueye?
That is the bit worth dwelling on.
The obvious solution would be to find another energetic ball-winning midfielder and carry on as before.
David Moyes may decide that is exactly what Everton need. It is, in truth, part of his DNA.
Then again, perhaps this is an opportunity to do something different.
For much of the last decade, Everton have lacked the sort of midfielder who can put his foot on the ball and take control. Not a luxury player. Not somebody who can pick a pass but plays on the fringes. Somebody who can dictate the rhythm of a match.
In American football terms (topical, eh?), a quarterback.
The sort of player who decides where the game is played, and at what tempo, rather than merely reacting to it.
Everton have seen it before
Mikel Arteta remains one of the best examples.
Not because Everton need another Arteta. Players like that are difficult to find. But because he offered something different.
He connected the team. Defence became attack through him. Possession had purpose.
Everton could slow games down or speed them up because Arteta was pulling the strings in the middle of the pitch.
For all the good midfielders Everton have had since, very few have performed that same role.
The wider squad picture only sharpens the point
Iliman Ndiaye finished last season looking like Everton’s most creative attacking player. If he remains at Hill Dickinson (big if), Moyes will want even more from him next season.
If a strong World Cup attracts serious interest, Everton suddenly have a different problem.
The same applies to Jack Grealish, whose long-term future remains uncertain, and even Dwight McNeil, who has been linked with a move away after a stop-start campaign and the doubt that came with a failed move to Palace in January.
Put all of that uncertainty together, and the question becomes obvious.
Where does Everton’s creativity come from?
For years, much of that burden has fallen on wide attacking players. If Ndiaye, Grealish or McNeil are not part of the picture by the time the transfer window closes, the need for creativity elsewhere in the team only grows.
Much, as things stand, will fall on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the 10 role.
Everton do not have to follow the same script
Nobody is suggesting Everton should abandon everything that has made them competitive under Moyes.
Every team needs players who tackle, press and fight for second balls. But every team also needs somebody capable of making things happen.
Perhaps Everton’s next midfield signing will be another Gueye.
Perhaps it should be.
Or perhaps the club finally has an opportunity to add something it has lacked for far too long: a classy, composed midfielder capable of controlling games from the centre of the pitch.
The striker headlines will continue to dominate the summer.
Yet the signing that changes Everton most might not be the one leading the line.
It might be the one pulling the strings behind him.
