Kenwright: The players want to be at Everton, that’s why we keep them
Evertons underfire chairman Bill Kenwright insists that Everton are not a selling club and believes that recent times have shown this to be the case.
Everton kept hold of star defender John Stones during the summer transfer window and also signed important new contracts with key players as the Everton chairman emphasised during a meeting with reporters.
“John Stones is hugely important to this club, of course. He’s the best centre-back in England, surely, and he was never going to leave, never. There was never a moment…” the Blues owner says, leaving the sentence hanging.
“But don’t forget. They said Luke Garbutt was definitely leaving, wouldn’t sign a new contract. And James McCarthy. We had that where he was definitely going apparently, it wasn’t even a question. Kevin Mirallas, too.
“Yet here we are with the window closed, and they all have new long term deals. They’re still here and they want to play for Everton. It’s an important point.”
“We’re not a selling club. Never really have been.
“We got £26m for Lescott [from Manchester City in 2009] and I don’t think anyone can argue with that. Fellaini [sold to Manchester United in 2013], we got more than his buy-out clause. And Wayne Rooney? Ten years ago… Though we did everything to keep him.”
He added: “The players, they want to be here. They want to play for Everton. That’s why we can keep them.
“We have a way of working, a philosophy, and the people at the club, they buy into it.”
Are Everton a selling club?
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I don’t agree that we are are a selling club. The pressure on impressionable young men to move from relatives and agents must be immense.Yet we have rarely lost a player without extracting a huge premium for their sale and usually after the process had made their continued service highly unlikely. Also you state BK is under pressure.Who from? The no marks who wasted their cash on a silly stunt down south? These fools are on a different planet from the rest of us aren’t they? More concerned with cash flow and points of etiquette in boardroom process than how the club preforms on the playing field.