Source: Liverpool_Echo
Transfer pain proves to be Everton FC blessing
KYLE NAUGHTON, Fabian Delph, Rasmus Elm and Philippe Senderos with Joleon Lescott? Or Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Sylvain Distin, John Heitinga and Lucas Neill without Lescott?[LNB]Three games, six days and 11 goals have dramatically altered the landscape of Everton's season and perhaps now is as good a time as any to reflect on the club's summer dealings in the transfer market.[LNB]There is no doubt it has been Everton's good fortune to come up against teams in the past week who have no claims to being top class, but here's something to ponder - would results have been as impressive had the first four named players been recruited?[LNB]Unlikely. While David Moyes was right to do everything in his power to hang on to a defender as good as Lescott - and to pursue players with potential - occasionally a club needs to wave goodbye to a major asset to take the next leap forward.[LNB]Everything happens for a reason and maybe Naughton's decision to choose Tottenham, Leeds United's refusal to do business with any club other than Aston Villa for Delph, Elm's dillydallying and Senderos playing poorly for Switzerland were to Everton's advantage.[LNB]Of course, it didn't seem that way at the time. There was enormous frustration when Naughton and Sheffield United staged an about turn and he ended up moving to White Hart Lane - it was a decision that enraged those officials who had been working on the deal.[LNB]But had he arrived on Merseyside, £5m of the initial transfer kitty would have been swallowed up and that, in all likelihood, would have scuppered the chances of doing a £9m deal to bring Bilyaletdinov - such a bright, inventive player -to the club.[LNB]And had Elm been recruited, Bilyaletdinov would most certainly have ended up staying in Russia - the Swedish midfielder was given a tour of Finch Farm in the middle of July but simply could not make his mind up on whether he wanted to join the Blues.[LNB]At the time, things looked bleak for Everton, particularly as their rivals were busy recruiting, but once Lescott's head was turned by Manchester City the wheels were set in motion for the club to take decisive action.
