Everton target PSV’s director of football as Moshiri plots managerial revamp

Everton have opened talks with PSV Eindhoven director of football Marcel Brands as majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri plots a revamp of the club’s managerial hierarchy.

The Mirror and Dutch daily De Telegraaf both report that the 54-year-old Dutchman is one of two candidates identified by Moshiri.

Brands, who has previously been linked with Chelsea, has earned an impressive reputation for finding and recruiting young talent.

In his five years at PSV, Brands has made the club more than £200m by recruiting and later selling the likes of Georginio Wijnaldum, Memphis Depay and Kevin Strootman.

Prior to that Brands spent five years at AZ Alkmaar where he recruited Louis van Gaal as manager, who led the side to the Eredivisie title in 2009.

Brands is contracted at PSV until 2020 but Sport Witness claim Everton would have no issue paying suitable compensation to lure him to Merseyside.

The targeting of Brands immediately puts the position of current director of football Steve Walsh firmly in the spotlight.

Walsh has been criticised for the club’s seemingly scattergun transfer policy that has resulted in an imbalanced squad with gaping holes in key areas despite more than £200m being spent.

Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images

De Telegraaf reports that Walsh has been operating more as a chief scout (where was so successful at Leicester) and Brands would fulfil more of a wider, international role.

That would certainly make more sense. Walsh has never been a director of football before his appointment always carried an element of risk.

There is no denying that the team has gone backwards in the two years since his appointment, so a change is certainly warranted.

There were also rumours about his relationship with previous manager Ronald Koeman, particularly over transfers.

Reverting back to the role of chief scout, where may be more comfortable, and bringing in an experienced director of football, makes sense all round.