Everton are going through a period of change both on and off the pitch.
Sean Dyche made seven new acquisitions to his squad during the summer transfer window and they’ve all had varying degrees of success.
Few have really hit the ground running other than Iliman Ndiaye and Orel Mangala – who’s really come into his own of late.
So, there’s evidently a need to strengthen during the January transfer window and Everton could get a cash injection when the Friedkin Group are installed as the new owners.
Kevin Thelwell believes Everton’s takeover should be completed soon and he’s hopeful of a bright future on Merseyside.
Thelwell has been hard at work developing the academy and when he spoke at a conference in front of fellow sporting directors a few weeks ago, he was told something quite eye-opening by a chief at a top Premier League club.
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Kevin Thelwell on what chief at top Premier League club told him about Everton
Kevin Thelwell is placing great emphasis on restructuring Everton’s academy and he spoke about their process at a recent conference – attended by chiefs at clubs across the Premier League.
After completing his speech, he was approached by someone at an ‘elite’ club who admitted Everton’s academy set-up is actually better than theirs.
“After he had spoken in depth about Everton’s behind-the-scenes restructure, he had a tap on the shoulder from someone working for one of the Premier League’s elite clubs,” Mark Douglas wrote for i News.
“You’ve got a better process, vision and strategy than we have,” they told him. “It’s just that you’re near the bottom of the league and we’re near the top.”
Whilst Thelwell would’ve been pleased to hear such praise, it’s understood he accepts there’s still a long way to go to return the club to where they once were – fighting for Europe.
What Everton insiders really think about Thelwell
I News’ long-read looked at the job Thelwell is doing in real detail and they gained information on what he’s really like.
“He is exactly what insiders say he is: calm, measured and strategic,” Douglas wrote.
The Everton chief has had to operate at full throttle since joining in February 2022 and despite the struggles on and off the pitch, he maintains that there’s good work going on behind the scenes.
“Everton gets a bad rap because we’ve had some problems but that doesn’t actually mean the quality of what was going on in a lot of spaces wasn’t at a really good level,” he says.
“Each department probably needed anywhere between a five and 25 degree turn to get it operating in an appropriate space and the academy was no different.”
So, with Thelwell potentially in his final season at the club if the Friedkin Group get their way, it seems like he’s leaving behind a pretty positive legacy, at least internally.
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