A look at prospective Everton owner Dan Friedkin’s recruitment strategy with Roma
With Farhad Moshiri turning off the tap and PSR restrictions biting, Everton – along with Brighton & Hove Albion, who continue to splash out only to sell stars for huge fees – are one of just two Premier League clubs to have made a transfer profit since 2021. But with a chance to put their financial problems behind them, how might the Blues recruitment potentially look under the Friedkin Group?
To find out, here’s a look at how Everton’s prospective new owners have handled transfers at their existing club Roma in Italy.
On the day that Dan Friedkin penned the preliminary contract to purchase Roma for $591million, the team lost 2-0 to eventual tournament winners Sevilla in a one-off Europa League last-16 tie played behind closed doors due to coronavirus restrictions in Duisburg, Germany.
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The delayed finish to Roma’s 2019/20 Serie A season had come five days earlier as a 3-1 win at Juventus – their fourth straight victory – ensured they finished fifth in the table.
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Friedkin’s first season at the helm – again without crowds – saw Roma slump to seventh, which was their lowest position for nine years, but since then with fans back inside the stadiums they have been consistent by posting three consecutive sixth-place finishes.
The deals to make loan signings Gianluca Mancini (€24million) and Jordan Veretout (€17.5m) into permanent switches (the two biggest outlays of Friedkin’s first transfer window in charge of Roma) had both been agreed before his takeover was complete. English centre-back Chris Smalling had also been on loan but in October 2020, Roma bought him too for an initial €15million fee with a gross outlay of €75.1m for 2020/21 while their transfer income was €49m for a net spend of €26.1m.
Friedkin’s first full summer in charge saw Roma splash out over €132m with their biggest buy another Englishman in the shape of Chelsea centre-forward Tammy Abraham who cost €41m. Other significant purchases included Marash Kumbulla (€26.5m) and Eldor Shomurodov (€19.6m) and with €17.24 recouped, Roma’s net spend was €114.81m.
Spending then went from boom to bust though as in 2022/23, Zeki Celik (€7.4m) was the club’s only significant cash purchase, although the likes of Paulo Dybala, Andrea Belotti and Nemanja Matic arrrived on free transfers while Nicolo Zaniolo, Veretout, Pau Lopez and Cengiz Under all headed out of the door for eight-figure fees, Roma actually made a trading profit of €63.92m.
That trend continued last season with €10m man Tommaso Baldanzi the team’s only buy (although they paid Chelsea €5.8m to loan Lukaku) and with Roger Ibanez leading the exits with a lucrative €30m move to Saudi outfit Al-Ahli, the club were again in the black for deals done to the tune of €63.2m.
This summer saw a return to splashing out again with a €92.6m outlay and €27m recouped for a €65.6m net spend. Roma’s biggest buy was the €30.5m they splashed out on Ukrainian international striker Artem Dovbyk, who plundered 24 goals in 36 La Liga games for Girona last season as the Catalan club finished third to qualify for the Champions League for the first time.
Although the 6ft 2in frontman is arguably at the peak of his powers at 27 and has netted twice in five games for Roma so far, earlier in his career he endured a disappointing spell in the Danish Superliga with Midtjylland, scoring just once in 22 matches in all competitions.
A further €25.6million was splashed out on Juventus’ Argentinian winger Matias Soule. The 21-year-old spent last season on loan at Frosinone and despite their relegation from Serie A, he netted 11 times in 36 matches.
Roma’s third big money buy this year was paying €23million for French midfielder Enzo Le Fee. The 24-year-old joined from Rennes, just as season after leaving Lorient, the club where he had been since he was eight.
Other new faces included former Manchester City player Angelino, 27, a Spanish left-back snapped up from RB Leipzig for €5.2m; Swedish left-back Samuel Dahl, 21, from Djurgarden for €4.3m; Saudi Arabian international right-back Saud Abdulhamid for €2.5m from Al-Hilal; 17-year-old right-back prospect Buba Sangare from Levante; and former Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal goalkeeper Matthew Ryan, 32, an Australian international, on a free transfer. There were also a couple of loans in the shape of French midfielder Manu Kone, 23, from Borussia Moenchengladbach and Milan’s Belgium international winger Alexis Saelemaekers, 25.
Roma sold a trio of players to Saudi clubs with Algeria international midfielder Hossem Aoar joining Al-Ittihad for €12m; Portuguese winger Joao Costa, 19, going to Al-Ettifaq for €9m; and former Manchester United centre-back Smalling, 34, an England international, signing for Al-Fayha for an undisclosed fee. Italy international striker Andrea Belotti, 30, went to Como for €4.5m, while Netherlands international right-back Rick Karsdorp, 29, joined PSV Eindhoven; Italy international left-back Leonardo Spinazzola, 31, signed for Napoli; and Portugal international goalkeeper Rui Patricio, 36, formerly of Wolverhampton Wanderers, moved to Atalanta, all on free transfers.
England international striker Abraham, 26, formerly of Chelsea, moved to Milan, among a clutch of players loaned out, including Albania international centre-back Kumbulla, 24, who has gone to Espanyol; Norway international winger Ola Solbakken, 25, who joined Empoli and Everton-linked midfielder Edoardo Bove, 22, who ended up being farmed out to Fiorentina for the season.
