Disappointing end to a Deadline Day filled with hope

Everton fans will be disappointed with the club’s activity on Transfer Deadline Day, with the summer window closing with only one addition to the senior squad.

The day started off hot with most of the earliest chatter coming around winger Yacine Brahimi, but that never came through with Porto upping their demands at the last minute to cover for their 50% ownership of the player’s rights.

Manchester City forward Wilfried Bony then went off to Stoke City, taking him off the market. With Genoa also insisting that Leonardo Pavoletti was off the market, that meant both of Napoli’s replacement ideas for Manolo Gabbiadini were gone, and they refused to sell.

Then the first news of a player headed to Finch Farm for a medical, however, it was for David Unsworth’s youth team. Dominic Cavert-Lewin played for Sheffield United, and the starlet was just called up for his first England cap.

He became the first signing of the day for the Blues, with Unsworth very happy with the day’s work from his perspective.

In the meantime, two players left the club, both on loan, and some Premier League clubs were sniffing around one other player. Shani Tarashaj went off on loan to Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany, while Aiden McGeady was loaned to Preston North End, also for the season.

There was plenty of interest in midfielder James McCarthy, but the Blues were insistent that he would not be moved, and they held firm despite mounting interest.

Arouna Kone and Oumar Niasse somehow remained Everton players at the end of the day in a big surprise as manager Ronald Koeman was known to be looking for someone to backup and play alongside Romelu Lukaku. There was even some interest in Niasse, but that fell through too.

It was only later in the day when the drama started building as fans’ patience was wearing paper thin. Everton were linked with Newcastle United’s wantaway midfielder Moussa Sissoko. The Toon had said all along that they wouldn’t negotiate below £35 million for the France international.

For most of the day though, it looked like it was Tottenham Hotspur who would end up signing the player at £30 million, but on and off we also heard that the Blues were keeping up to date.

Then just a couple of hours before the window closed, it was reported that the Toffees were the only club to make a bid. The next move was Spurs’ to make, and they matched the Everton bid, and that’s when the situation took off.

Koeman was trying desperately to call the player and his camp, but it appears Sissoko shut off his phone and went off to London for a medical at Spurs. Meanwhile Everton had prepared a room at Finch Farm for the medical as well as having a jet on standby to fly the player over.

Frustrated by his behavior, Everton withdrew their bid and off Sissoko went to North London where he wanted to go anyway for Champions League football.

With just minutes left in the window, it was too late to salvage a wreck of a day, and even the loan signing of Enner Valencia from West Ham United for forward depth was met with widespread discord among the fanbase.

While the way the transfer window ended was deeply disappointing especially after Koeman had boldly said that he needed 3-4 more players, the overall transfer period should give fans some hope.

Maarten Stekelenburg and Idrissa Gana Gueye have been better than advertised, while Ashley Williams has already been showing some defensive steel that the team needed so desperately. Yannick Bolasie has been a pretty exciting prospect in the limited time he has seen so far.

The Blues sold John Stones with the player seemingly desperate for a fresh start elsewhere, while Luke Garbutt and Brendan Galloway went off on loan. Everton might not necessarily be more skilled than before, but they definitely are taking on the mark of their new manager and we will wait to see how the next few months play out.

What did you think of the deadline day shenanigans, and the transfer window overall?