Kevin Thelwell reveals the key figure that convinced him to join Everton

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Everton’s progress since Kevin Thelwell was appointed as director of football has been stark and there for all to see.

Few can argue with his decision-making, which has remained intelligent and incisive in the face of unprecedented obstacles.

After all, there aren’t many in similar roles across the footballing world that have taken over at such a historic club, with expectations so high, but inherited such a mess.

Not to mention that, despite his best efforts to ease their financial ailments, his side have since been hit with a points deduction.

Remaining unflinching despite such adversity, this surely marks the toughest challenge of his illustrious career. Now, speaking to the VS Sporting Director’s podcast, he has revealed a few key reasons why he moved to Merseyside in the first place.

What did Kevin Thelwell say about Bill Kenwright?

The 50-year-old cites two chats, one of which seemed massively more important than the other given the praise he had for the late Bill Kenwright: ‘I had a conversation with Denise Barrett-Baxendale, who was the chief exec at that time, and then I was having a conversation with Bill Kenwright.

‘I knew pretty quickly that I’d want to come back, not for the need to leave New York, because we were very happy there and it was it’s a great football club and there was an opportunity to extend and stay there, but I’ve got all the children who were never going to work in the States, and it was about us thinking about well when’s the right time and the right opportunity to go back before you become forgotten?

‘And so we had a decision to make about whether to stay in New York, or whether we went to work somewhere else in the states, and how long could we leave it, should we leave it, before actually starting to translate back to England, back in the UK.

‘But the reality is, how often do you get the opportunity to be director of football at Everton? For me, in my opinion, this is gonna come up once in a lifetime, so how can you not take this opportunity?’

What players has Kevin Thelwell signed for Everton?

Whilst Thelwell’s most impressive appointment thus far has likely been Sean Dyche, as one of the first managerial manoeuvres that actually made sense for the club, many of his movements in the transfer market have also been impressive.

After all, his ability to amass huge fees for both Anthony Gordon and Richarlison, who were sold for £45m and £60m respectively, has helped the Toffees out tenfold.

This allowed them the fiscal leeway to add to a side ravaged by a relegation battle, and as such the likes of Amadou Onana, Dwight McNeil, James Garner and James Tarkowski were all purchased.

These four stars have become key components of Everton’s resurgence, with the less said about Neal Maupay the better.

Then, more recently, swooping for the likes of Beto and Youssef Chermiti finally allowed Dominic Calvert-Lewin to regain fitness, with the 26-year-old having since outlined his lofty ambition to now leave Goodison Park as a hero.

Should the former Wolverhampton Wanderers sporting director maintain such form in healing Everton, he too might end up a legend given how he has navigated such trying times with immense expertise.