Premier League season preview: Everton

The arrival of Ronald Koeman, plus a new, wealthy owner, gives Everton fans plenty to be excited about heading into the 2016-17 Premier League season.

INS: Idrissa Gueye (£7.3 million, Aston Villa), Maarten Stekelenburg (£850k, Fulham)

OUTS: John Stones (£47.5 million, Manchester City), Tim Howard (free, Colorado Rapids), Leon Osman (released), Steven Pienaar (released), Felipe Mattioni (released), Tony Hibbert (released)

THE STORY: The 2016-17 season marks the beginning of a new era for Everton. The club’s new majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, has finally given the Toffees the capital necessary to compete in the Premier League of the 21st century, and the early signs are good.

The first significant act of Moshiri’s reign was to sack Roberto Martinez and bring in former Southampton manager Ronald Koeman. Time will tell of course, but it certainly feels like a big upgrade. Everton were a mess under Martinez last season, especially at the back — they conceded 55 goals in total, fewer than only two teams that weren’t relegated.

Koeman, meanwhile, built one of the best defenses in the league at Southampton over the past two seasons, and that, coupled with his success as a player, lends him an aura of authority that Martinez could never quite muster.

But while Moshiri’s takeover was supposed to signal an increase in spending, there have been only a few under-the-radar signings so far. Idrissa Gueye looks like a shrewd purchase at £7.3 million and will help to beef up an occasionally lightweight midfield, but the only other new arrival is Maarten Stekelenburg — a good keeper, but not the solution to this team’s problems.

The most interesting transfer business, then, has yet to be completed. The Toffees have reportedly agreed a deal with Swansea for center-back Ashley Williams, while a £30 million move for Crystal Palace winger Yannick Bolasie is also close. Williams is an excellent, experienced player and would provide Phil Jagielka with a center-back partner who isn’t Ramiro Funes Mori, which can only be a good thing. Bolasie, meanwhile, is one of the most entertaining players in the league. He struggles occasionally with consistency, but is capable of winning games single-handedly and, if nothing else, a £30 million price tag would prove to Everton fans that Moshiri is serious about his new investment.

As for the current squad, there is a lot to like, despite last season’s bottom half finish. Romelu Lukaku should score around 20 goals in a properly functioning team, Kevin Mirallas and Gerard Deulofeu can be lethal on the wings, while Ross Barkley, still only 22, is just coming into his own as a player. In defense, Jagielka, even at 33, remains one of the best center-backs in the league, while Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines are both excellent full backs.

The last two seasons under Martinez were one long disappointment for Everton fans, but there is no reason this group of players can’t push for at least a Europa League spot with the right manager, and in many ways Koeman is everything Martinez was not. The Dutchman’s Southampton side was not perhaps quite as free-flowing as Martinez’s Everton at their best, but they were much more defensively solid and, you know, better.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 16: Kevin Mirallas of Everton and Jordy Clasie of Southampton in action during the Barclays Premier League match between Everton and Southampton at Goodison Park on April 16, 2016 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) /

KEY PLAYER: Everton are blessed with plenty of attacking talent, but Mirallas is perhaps their most gifted player. He is also one of the most inconsistent. In Koeman’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, the wingers are hugely important, which a means a good, consistent season from Mirallas could be the difference between a mid-table finish and a push for the European places.

Mirallas managed only four goals in 23 league games last term in a dysfunctional team. He is capable of scoring at least 10, and Koeman is probably as good a man as any to coax more consistent quality out of the Belgian. There are similarities between Mirallas and Dusan Tadic, who thrived under Koeman at Southampton — if Koeman can tease equally impressive performances out of Mirallas at Everton, the Toffees should be in for an enjoyable season.

MANAGER: Koeman has emerged over the past two seasons as one of the best managers in the Premier League. In 2014-15 and 2015-16, he guided Southampton to eighth and sixth place finishes, respectively, despite the loss of some of his best players to the league’s wealthier clubs.

The success he had at Southampton owed much to an excellent defense — and fixing a leaky back line will probably be his first priority at Everton — but his team were plenty exciting to watch, too. Graziano Pelle, Tadic and Sadio Mane formed one of the most compelling front threes in the league, and in Lukaku, Mirallas and Deulofeu, Koeman already has the makings of a similar attacking unit at Goodison Park.

Koeman will be realistic about Everton’s chances in his first season, but he is a supremely confident manager (as he was a supremely confident player), and he presumably expects his new team to be battling the likes of Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal for a Champions League spot sooner rather than later.

Next: Premier League season preview: Manchester City

BEST CASE: Koeman shores up the defense, Lukaku and Mirallas dominate up front and Everton finish in the top eight.

WORST CASE: The team struggles to shake the bad defensive habits developed under Martinez, the attack is inconsistent and the Toffees sputter to another bottom half finish.

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