Everton transfer stance speaks volumes as liam delap decision made

Everton look set to lose out on the battle for Liam Delap with the striker advancing on a move to Chelsea. The 22-year-old was a target for the Blues with David Moyes willing to go on the

record with his desire to join the battle for the Ipswich Town forward after his impressive season in the Premier League. Moyes was always realistic about Everton’s chances of landing the

coveted star, meaning the setback is just a minor one at the start of a summer in which the club has already entered the transfer market. And despite appearing set to lose out, there are

positives that can be taken from the pursuit. The most notable is the intent shown by Moyes and the club in the public pronouncements of interest in Delap. The Blues boss broke cover from

the usual playbook of managers not being willing to speak about players from other clubs and the benefits of having done so are clear. First, there was no jeopardy to doing so - once Delap’s

relegation release clause became widely known it became obvious he would be the subject of widespread interest. Kieran McKenna, his manager at Portman Road, was aware there were clubs

lining up for him and Everton joining them was hardly controversial. But the impact on the Everton fanbase was clear. Moyes has re-iterated his demands the club should be looking up the

table since he joined in January. While he was ultra-cautious in acknowledging Everton were safe, refusing to do so until weeks after it felt enough points had been secured to guarantee

survival, his rhetoric has always been that this is a club that should be focused on progress. Joining the battle for one of the hottest prospects in the game was symbolic of that. This was

a case of stepping beyond mere words and living, acting like the forward-thinking club he wants to create. That is important because for so long, Everton have operated within themselves.

Across several years of turbulence, relegation fights and ownership uncertainty, the club has had an almost apologetic air - while Sean Dyche had good reason for focusing on the severity of

the situation he faced and handled successfully, this season required a fresh outlook and the inability to expand beyond a relegation-threatened mentality ultimately cost him his job. Moyes’

aggressive positivity was refreshing after months of Blues supporters being told they should not expect performances and results to improve simply because of the emotional significance of

the Goodison farewell campaign. The Scot came in, set out his ambitions, drove the results to improve the club’s status and then, once free of survival fears, sought to build the positive

momentum by staking Everton’s claim for Delap. Since the takeover by The Friedkin Group in December and handover to the club of the new stadium days later, there has been a sense the rest of

the world has taken its time to catch up with the positivity brewing at Finch Farm and beyond. This was a clear issue in January, when Moyes struggled to bring in recruits with some telling

him they were concerned about what they might be walking into. Six months later, the rest of the world is finally starting to realise that Everton is one of THE places to be right now. Hard

work, money and luck is needed to take the fight into the top eight but it is clear the club is on a positive trajectory and Delap’s response to Everton’s interest indicated players away

from Merseyside are starting to see this. Given the extent of the options he had around him, Delap could have chosen to ignore the Blues’ efforts to reach out. In recent seasons, he may well

have done given the hell supporters were living through. Yet when I watched him take in Goodison an hour before kick-off earlier this month, it felt clear he had a respect for the place and

was taken in by her charm. With the 1878s having organised their final, sensational demonstration ahead of the Goodison farewell, Everton looked every inch the incredible club it is. Delap

struggled to impress on the pitch but that corner of L4 made an impression on him - to the point where it carried him into the home opposite the ground to add his name to the wall covered in

signatures. Delap went so far as to speak with Moyes last week. Maybe it was out of courtesy but it showed respect for the institution and he did not need to do it if he was not genuinely

open to hearing the club’s pitch. That is substantial progress on where Everton were in January when the club was scrabbling for anyone to strengthen a beleaguered, struggling squad. That

Everton could afford him is another bonus. The club, with outgoing director of football Kevin Thelwell, has had to scrabble together a squad through loans, free signings and buy-now,

pay-later deals for much of the last two years. The net spend under Thelwell is tens of millions of pounds less than the next most frugal club that has been in the top flight throughout that

period. TFG - who have sanctioned several marquee forward signings at Roma, which they also own - appeared willing to back Moyes to the tune of £30m on this and he had the confidence to

spend the money on offer. That is progress. The Blues may still need to operate with caution up until the June 30 Profit and Sustainability Regulations deadline due to the hangover of

previous spending, but from July 1 it looks clear the club will have the ability to spend money in a way it has been unable to for some time. None of this makes up for the likelihood that a

top talent has opted against joining Everton. But should the pursuit, as now seems probable, end in disappointment it will have been a vehicle through which Moyes has been able to add

another layer of excitement and ambition to those he has already laid down since his arrival. And given Everton placed no expectation on winning this fight, and will not see it drag through

the summer, it has been a battle waged at very little cost. Having overseen a surge of results that showed Everton were far more than a relegation threatened mess, he is now helping the club

to act like the one it wants to be - and people beyond the Blue bubble are finally taking notice.