Paul Smith
With the transfer window now locked and the key hidden until January 2010 David Moyes will be able to reflect on some of the most turbulent weeks of his Everton tenure. Much of this anguish was caused by Joleon Lescott, the England defender who had attracted the interest of big spending Manchester City after their failed attempt to sign John Terry from Chelsea.
Once Manchester City registered their interest it was always going to be difficult for Moyes to keep hold of his star asset with the wages that the Eastlands club could offer the former Wolves player. Despite this, Moyes was resolute rejecting City’s early bids and then a written transfer request from the player himself. The Everton boss even went as far to say Man City’s behaviour in their pursuit of Lescott was ‘disgusting’ and he was clearly irked when he felt that Mark Hughes the City manager was trying to go above his head and speak to the Blues board directly.
The turning point in the transfer saga came on the opening day of the Premier League season when Everton suffered a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Arsenal at Goodison Park. Lescott started and played like a man clearly distracted by the transfer speculation surrounding him, which transferred itself to his team-mates. Everton’s success in recent seasons has been based on a unifying team spirit and an impressive work ethic, something clearly lacking in that Arsenal performance. After the humiliating debacle Moyes knew that Lescott’s time at Goodison Park was up, and within days he came to an agreement with Man City that saw the England international move to the City of Manchester Stadium for £23M.
Lescott’s career progression has much to do with David Moyes who gambled on the talented but worryingly injury prone defender at the start of the 2006/07 season when he was plying his trade in the Championship with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Under Moyes’ tutorage Lescott adapted to the Premier League with aplomb performing admirably at centre-back or left-back, and at the end of his debut season the defender was voted Everton players’ Player of the Season. After just over 12 months of Premier League football Lescott made his England debut against Estonia in October 2007 and he has since evolved into one of the Premier League’s top defenders, also being a threat from set-pieces at the other end of the pitch. If David Moyes is feeling hurt by the saga and Lescott’s desire for a move then he certainly deserves empathy.
It’s important that a club moves quickly when a star player leaves under a cloud and Moyes has acted swiftly to cover the gap left by Lescott’s absence with the acquisition of Sylvain Distin and Johnny Heitinga. Distin is another player to be at the centre of summer transfer speculation with moves to Aston Villa and Sunderland looking likely at one stage during the transfer window. The Frenchman brings with him seven years of Premier League experience after spells at Newcastle United, Manchester City and finally Portsmouth who opted to sell the defender as he was in the final year of his contract. He is a fully competent left sided centre-back who can fill in at left-back and will prove to be a more than capable direct replacement for the departed Lescott.
Johnny Heitinga is a Dutch international with excellent pedigree. He came through the famed Ajax youth setup making his senior Ajax debut at the tender age of 17 in 2001, followed by a full international debut just three years later. Before the start of the 2008/09 season he moved from Ajax to La Liga and Atletico Madrid for a fee of nearly £9M. His £7M move to Everton was completed late on deadline day and he adds further versatility and experience to Moyes’ backline with the ability to play at right-back and centre-back.
The signings of Heitinga and Distin in addition to Joseph Yobo, the injured Phil Jagielka and the emerging Jack Rodwell leaves Moyes with plenty of ability to call upon in the post-Lescott era. With the Goodison Park side collecting their first points of the new league campaign against Wigan Athletic at the weekend they should be ready to kick on after the international break and put a forgettable opening few weeks firmly behind them.
Moyes will be determined not to let the Lescott episode ruin their season and he will need to use all of the defensive ability at his disposal with Everton hoping to compete both at home and abroad throughout the campaign. Football fans concerned by another bout of ‘player power’ plunging a club into turmoil will be hoping that the talented Scotsman can arrest the Blues early season jitters and deliver another successful season on Merseyside.
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