£47m profit: Everton hit gold selling league-winning ace signed by Martinez

As most of their fans will readily attest, Everton have not always been the shrewdest of operators when it comes to the transfer market.

   The Toffees have developed something of a reputation in recent years for spending significant sums of money on players who simply aren’t good enough, whether it’s the £30m they spent on Beta last year or the £27m they spent on Turkish striker Cenk Tosun  January 2018.

   The second deal was made worse by the fact that the fee paid probably came from the £47m profit they made from one of the club’s best sales, which, given how badly Tosuno has done, ended up being wasted money.

   Having said that, who was this star who made Everton so much money?

   Everton’s landmark sale

   So before we get to the expensive player in question, let’s take a look at some of the other notable sales Everton have made in recent years, starting with Amadou Onana.

   The Belgium international joined the Toffees for around £33m in August 2022 and would go on to score four goals and provide three assists in 72 appearances for the Blues.

   But while the former LOSC Lille ace was undoubtedly talented, he couldn’t make the cut under Dyche last season, starting just 23 Premier League games, so when Aston Villa made a £50m bid this summer, he was all for it.  it felt like a win if they sold it.  .    included.

   Before the 23-year-old midfielder, the last player to be sold for £50m or more was Brazilian forward Richarlison, who joined Tottenham Hotspur for around £60m in July 2022, and unlike the Belgian, the former was a long way off  .  Watford’s dynamo.    more important hits.

   For example, in his 152 appearances for the team, the 27-year-old striker has achieved a truly impressive output of 53 goals and 13 assists, which equates to an average of one goal every 2.30 games.

   But if we go back even further, back to the summer of 2017, we come to Everton’s record sale: Romelu Lukaku.

   Sale of Romelu Lukaku

   Yes, the star in question is none other than striker Lukaku, who joined Roberto Martinez’s Everton in the summer of 2014 for a then club record fee of around £28m after impressing on loan last season.

   During his time on Merseyside, the former Chelsea ace was nothing short of sensational.    If you include his year on loan, the Belgian “phenomenon”, as Sky Sports presenter Dougie Critchley called him, achieved an unprecedented haul of 87 goals and 27 assists in just 166 games, averaging a goal every 1.45 games  .  for a team outside the traditional “big six”.

   Unsurprisingly, such incredible and consistent form led to interest from outside sides and in the summer of 2017, Manchester United agreed to pay a staggering £75m for the then 24-year-old, and while fans would probably prefer to keep the player, the £47m profit is hard to turn down.

   In the years since, the 119-cap international has endured an up-and-down career, failing to live up to expectations at Old Trafford despite winning back-to-back titles in Italy and completely failing in a £97.5m move.    Chelsea 2021.

   But to his credit, the Antwerp-born goal machine has been in superb form over the past two years, scoring 25 goals and assisting in 47 games for AS Roma last season and has already bagged three goals and five assists in eight games for Antonio Conte.  Naples years.

   Ultimately, while he could have become a true Everton giant if he stayed, the club did very well to make so much money selling him in 2017, although there was less talk of the decision to then spend a large chunk of the money on Tosuno.  .    months later the better.