On This Day In Everton History: June 15th

Let’s take a look at how this date shaped Everton history as we know it!

2017: Pickford and Klaassen join Everton

2017 was a big spending year for the Toffees. The club was coming off Ronald Koeman’s first year as manager and a seventh-placed finish, which was just enough to earn the Toffees a spot in the Europa League third qualifying round.

Everton had also recently seen an influx of cash come their way as Farhad Moshiri had bough a 49.9 per cent stake in February 2016. So, with the club looking to take the next step and Koeman with a large transfer chest to work with, the Toffees went shopping in the summer. That brings us to June 15, 2017.

On this day, three years ago, Everton officially made their first moves of the 2017 summer transfer window. They brought in two players, both with high upsides, but both with tremendously different career paths after joining the club.

The first was Davy Klaassen, a central midfielder who had shone at Ajax and just captained his club to a Europa League Final in the prior season. There was promise there and a lot of hope that he would be a great addition to the club’s midfield as the Toffees looked to bolster their squad for a shot at Champions League.

The other signing that day was a young, charismatic and boisterous goalkeeper from Sunderland by the name of Jordan Pickford. Pickford was highly regarded around England and, at the time, was expected to be England’s new No. 1 when the World Cup rolled around the following year. Needless to say, this was a pretty big coup for Everton and just in time, as well, because we all know how his World Cup went. It would have cost the Toffees a pretty penny more to buy him the following year.

This was just the beginning for Koeman and the Everton board, though, as the club would bring in 15 different players for reportedly more than £140 million (obviously some fees are still undisclosed so we don’t know the exact number).

Photo by Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images

Everton had spent the money to compete with the big clubs, the only problem was that most would say they didn’t spend it in the right areas. Romelu Lukaku would leave the club in the same summer and the club failed to replace him, instead bringing in a host of central midfielders who all had similar abilities.

In terms of Pickford and Klaassen, they went in opposite directions. Klaassen got lost in the group of central midfielders who were at the club and was unable to get a real opportunity to shine, playing in just 16 total matches for the club before being shipped off to Werder Bremen the season after.

Pickford, on the other hand, has had a pretty solid career with the Toffees. He started off in tremendous form and, despite a couple mental lapses here and there, was a brick wall behind a less-than-stellar Everton defence.

He would go on to be England’s hero in the World Cup the summer after, helping them reach the semifinals with some unbelievable saves against Columbia in a penalty shootout. Since then, it has been a bit of a bumpy road for the Everton No. 1, but we all know what he can do and we can only hope he finds that fantastic form again as we look towards what we hope will be a new era of Everton football.

And THAT is today in Everton history!