Everton ignored Steve Walsh’s call to sign him in 2018, he won the Premier League Golden Boot two years later

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Everton’s recruitment over the last 10 years has been pretty poor.

It all started in 2016 when Steve Walsh joined as the head of recruitment after a successful spell at Leicester City, where he helped to build the Premier League title-winning squad that defied all odds.

Walsh joined with a big reputation having scouted the likes of Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante, who joined as complete unknowns from France.

However, his appointment ended up being a total disaster, as he was responsible for a number of big-money flops.

Though, Everton did ignore his calls to sign a striker in 2018 who ended up winning the Premier League Golden Boot two years later.

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Everton ignored Steve Walsh’s calls to sign Jamie Vardy in 2018

According to the Liverpool Echo, Steve Walsh urged Everton to sign Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy back in March 2018.

Walsh was under pressure at the time but insisted that Vardy would be at the very top of his shortlist in the summer.

The chief scout was responsible for bringing Vardy from non-league to Leicester in 2012 and it was certainly a deal that paid off.

The jet-heeled striker was one of the key figures in Leicester’s title win in 2016 and continued to net at a prolific rate in the following seasons.

However, ultimately, Everton ended up sacking Walsh and the new chief Marcel Brands ignored his calls to sign Vardy that year.

Indeed, Vardy ended up winning the Premier League Golden Boot two years later and is now approaching a whopping 150 Premier League goals.

Everton signed Richarlison instead

In fairness, whilst Vardy clearly would’ve been a super recruit, Everton did sign a very adequate alternative in the shape of Richarlison.

The Brazilian forward signed in a £50m deal from Watford and went on to become a fan favourite among the Goodison Park faithful.

Richarlison’s goals in the 2021/22 season were one of the main reasons why the club managed to avoid relegation.

So it was a successful first summer for Brands, who also signed Lucas Digne, Yerry Mina and Kurt Zouma to name a few.