Everton suffer double transfer blow as West Ham United offer defender new deal

Everton’s current personnel in defence could be improved upon but they have suffered two separate transfer blows involving Ben Godfrey and Ben Johnson.

The Toffees finished the Premier League season with the fourth-best defence in the league thanks to the strong displays from Jordan Pickford, Jarrad Branthwaite, James Tarkowski and Vitalyi Mykolenko. However, they don’t possess the depth they once did.

Signing players has become an unenviable task due to their financial restrictions and they have had to scour the free agent and loan markets in recent windows. That’s how the signing of Ashley Young came to pass and they had eyed another move for an out-of-contract player in West Ham’s Johnson. However, reports from the Athletic have revealed that the club have offered the 24-year-old a new five-year-deal.

Capable of playing on either side of defence, he would have brought depth and youth to a squad that still houses the veterans Seamus Coleman and Ashley Young who combined for a total of over 3,100 minutes last season. Ben Godfrey was one defender who had emerged as a key figure at the back end of the season; injuries had been his biggest obstacle to success but the 26-year-old managed to feature in 13 of the last 17 games and covered in both full-back areas.

That’s why the impending decision regarding his future was so important. His deal expires next summer and Everton wanted to tie him down to a new deal which would have been good business given their current situation. However, the uncertainty over the club’s future will be a clear reason for the player to look elsewhere and reject any advances - and that is what one report has stated.

According to Football Insider, Godfrey has rejected multiple offers to extend his contract at Everton and will now go into the final year of his deal at Goodison Park. There were links to both AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund and the defender, who arrived for £20m from Norwich in 2020, could be sold this summer as a result. It would give them a chance to raise funds and source another defender but they would likely take a loss on the fee they paid four years ago.

It leaves Everton with a decision to make regarding selling him this summer. Allowing him to leave on a free would be another transfer fumble but their hands are certainly tied with the current ownership situation and financial restrictions - it’s anyone’s guess what will happen by the time the window shuts.