Phil Thomas: Chelsea spending £60m on Everton’s Anthony Gordon? Clubs have lost touch with reality
IT stems from years of false dawns and near misses, but Everton fans have never been short of a biting comment and cutting one-liner when it comes to their team.
If they gave out trophies for self-deprecating humour, the Toffees would be in a European Super League of their own.
Ahead of Tuesday’s hiding-to-nothing EFL Cup clash at Fleetwood, they were in a typically cynical and amusing mood.
Only this had little to do with how they expected a banana skin tie to go.
Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst, is pretty much a given for them these days.
This time the focus was on Anthony Gordon.
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More specifically, talk of Chelsea being willing to pay £60million for Goodison’s latest homegrown star.
Not that those Everton fans didn’t rate him. Far from it. For nearly a year Gordon has been the one bright spot in the gloomiest of times.
And, of course, they’d love to tell Thomas Tuchel where to stick it.
But that fee? For a kid who, as promising as he is, had his doubters even within the club itself barely a year ago.
As one Evertonian laughed: “I’d pack his case, drive him to Stamford Bridge myself and send the rest of his gear down later. That price... it’s like Marouane Fellaini all over again.”
They still laugh about that on the Gwladys Street, when David Moyes went back to his former club hoping to take Leighton Baines to Manchester United with him.
In the end, he settled on paying MORE than Fellaini’s initial buyout clause to ensure that he didn’t end the 2013 summer window without a signing.
No one was suggesting Gordon would go the same way. They rate him highly.
They think he could be a top player, albeit any Wayne Rooney comparisons are as laughable as the fee.
But if Everton can trouser that sort of money, then selling him is a no-brainer.
And also an indication of how some clubs appear to have lost all touch with reality.
Gordon may be the headline act in terms of making this particular point, yet he is far from the only one.
My colleague Dave Kidd highlighted recently how four of the supposed top six have all offloaded their record buys for nothing this summer.
So that, surely, has led to heightened caution before spaffing millions on still-to-prove-it stars this summer?
You’d think so, especially when so many clubs were pleading post-pandemic poverty less than 12 months ago.
In reality, though, not a bit of it. Wesley Fofana anyone? Possibly Antony? And don’t forget Alexander Isak.
Fofana — good to see his boss Brendan Rodgers finally lose patience with his attempts to force a move by the way — has his heart set on joining Chelsea.
It looks close to happening and Leicester are after £80m.
Again, no doubt he is a centre-back of huge promise. But also one in only his second season in the Premier League, and not yet a first choice for France.
Fofana has watched Leicester’s last two games, apparently “distracted” by all the transfer talk.
Effectively telling manager Rodgers he didn’t want to be considered.
How good would it be, incidentally, if a potential buyer saw that, thought, “He could spit the dummy with us if he doesn’t get his own way,” and left him to face the music with his fans.
But it won’t happen. Club owners may be titans of the industry in which they have made a fortune, but when it comes to sport, hard-nosed business sense makes way for hysteria.
There is no doubting Antony’s potential at Ajax, either. But it will cost around £84m to get the Dutch club to do business.
That’s nearly the same as Ajax’s annual turnover. And when United up their offers, don’t they realise they are bidding against themselves?
There’s not a queue to sign the Brazilian winger.
Of course, it was only a matter of time before Newcastle spent big and after a few shrewd deals, maybe you can excuse them for it.
But you’d have thought it would at least be on someone every fan had heard of, rather than one which plenty doubtless had to Google.
They set a new club record in paying £60m to get striker Isak.
A man who scored six league goals for Real Sociedad last season and has none in his last seven for Sweden.
It’s obvious no one can guarantee any signing will be a success and there have been plenty who’ve proved that point.
But when big-money buys do turn out to be overpriced plonkers, there seems to be no accountability from those responsible. Doubtless, it will be the same with this lot.
After all, they can always stick a few quid more on the price of match ticket and bring out another replica kit to pay for it...
MAGUIRE’S OLD SCHOOL
NO sooner had Harry Maguire been left out of the Manchester United side than some were bizarrely suggesting he may look for a move.
A permanent one would be tough, they conceded, but maybe a loan?
Because of course he needs to play regularly, what with the World Cup coming up and all that.
I’m sorry, but is that what we’ve come to? The minute a player is dropped means the end of the road?
The dignified way Maguire acted at Leicester when United were after him, always available and giving his best — take note, Fofana — proves no toys will be tossed from prams now.
Instead he’ll work his b******s off to show Erik ten Hag he deserves his place. It’s called old- school attitude.
It used to rule back in the days before self- entitlement was king. Or queen, before I’m accused of being sexist.
CROCK CAL TOO RISKY
CALLUM WILSON is a fine striker and after his flying start to the season, it wasn’t just Geordies who were pressing his World Cup claims.
Wilson’s ability is undoubted. He is one of England’s finest finishers and given a clean bill of health, would be high in the scoring charts every season. But therein lies the issue.
For all he knows where the net is, Wilson is even better acquainted with the treatment table.
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As we now see again, with a two-week absence on the cards because of a hamstring strain.
So while he would arguably be the ideal alternative in Qatar should anything happen to Harry Kane, his injury record in such a hectic schedule makes him the opposite.
