Everton’s recruitment under the previous regime was extremely hit-and-miss.
Farhad Moshiri’s reign between 2016 and 2024 was a really bleak time in Everton’s long illustrious history and it saw the club fight for their Premier League status on a number of occasions.
Moshiri spent a fortune early on in his tenure but many of his recruits failed to make an impact at Goodison Park.
Moise Kean, Davy Klassen and Jean-Philippe Gbamin are notable examples as they all failed to live up to their lofty price tags.
Though, perhaps one of the club’s biggest blunders in recent years wasn’t actually a signing, instead, it was the decision to reject a player who’s since gone on to become one of the best footballers on the planet.
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Everton rejected chance to sign Ousmane Dembele in 2022
According to the Liverpool Echo back in January 2022, Everton rejected the opportunity to sign then-Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele.
The French wide player was on the fringes at the Camp Nou and there was a suggestion that talks had been held over a loan deal.
Everton chiefs discussed a deadline-day move for Dembele, however, it was decided their efforts should be focused on landing a midfielder instead.
Dembele ended up joining Paris Saint-Germain 18 months later and now he’s regarded as ‘one of the best’ players in the world.
In fact, he’s currently one of the leading contenders to win the Ballon d’Or this year.
Dembele outscoring Mohamed Salah
Dembele has been in prolific form this season and is actually outscoring Ballon d’Or favourite Mohamed Salah at the moment.
This calendar year, the World Cup-winning attacker has already netted 19 goals which trumps Salah’s 10, so that amplifies just how good he’s been.
PSG are on course to win Ligue 1 and are up against Liverpool in the last 16 of the Champions League, interestingly. Perhaps that tie could determine the Ballon d’Or.
From an Everton perspective, it’s yet another ‘what could’ve been’ moment.
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