Finally. It had taken a while and some (not too far from this website) had become impatient, but Marcel Brands to Everton is done, dusted and announced.
PSV broke the news on Wednesday in a series of social media posts and website articles which made it clear just how well liked the Dutchman is. But he’s not just a nice-guy, leading up to the announcement there’s been a series of articles in the Netherlands explaining just how good Brands is at his job.
And that’s what Everton want, not the big smiles and bear-hugs.
Thursday’s edition of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf has an article on the situtation, and their headline concentrates a €100m+ budget for Brands to spend this summer at Everton. It’s then added: ‘If necessary, the club goes over that amount.’
The Toffees are going for the top six, and have brought Brands in on around €2m a year.
De Telegraaf quote the man himself as saying all the right things: “The amounts used in England and also at Everton are totally different than in the Netherlands. The market forces we know here are also there, but with much larger amounts. The greater the amounts, the greater the responsibility that is associated with this. Sometimes it seems like big money makes you a little lazy, but I don’t think I’m lazy.”
The Dutch newspaper also go over the Mino Raiola connection, and say Everton now want the agent to help them move forward. That’s being pushed by Farhad Moshiri and Alisher Usmanov, with it also being stated the latter now wants to get rid of his Arsenal shares and could invest in Everton.
Raiola played a ‘major role’ in getting the now former-PSV man to Everton, and Brands confirmed: “The first contact has come via Mino, but not for the rest. Mino is a good friend of mine. He has been that since my RKC-time.”
