‘Don’t think’ - Frank Lampard explains Everton financial state ahead of January transfer window

Frank Lampard revealed that Everton will again have to be ‘sensible’ in the transfer market as January recruits are eyed.

The Toffees have had well-documented financial issues after recording losses of more than £370 million over the past three years.

It has meant that Everton have previously had to liaise with the Premier League to ensure they do not break profit and sustainability rules.

In his first transfer window last summer, Lampard admitted the Blues had to be ‘smart’ when conducting their business. And with the winter window opening in a week’s time, Everton will take a similar approach.

What’s been said

Asked whether financial rules may still impact the Toffess’ January business, Lampard - who is keen to bolster his attacking options - said: “It’s a difficult question for me to answer. Financially, the numbers and economics are not really for me to sit here and go through that one.

“Does it affect you? Yes. We have to be sensible. Some of the things before I was here, as a club we look back and want to move in the right direction. When we spoke about the summer window, everyone was [saying]: ‘Get another this, get another that’. Firstly, you’ve got to have the budget to do it then you’ve got the belief the player will help you now and help grow as an Everton player, have the right mentality as an Everton player. All these things come into the account.

“We have to be smart and work in a smart way. I don’t think that’s changed from the last window. We’ll do our best. What we do have is a very joined-up idea between myself, Kevin (Thelwell) and the board as to where we want to get to.

“We’ll do our best but what we and I don’t want to do is bring in players who’ll sit in the squad and won’t improve us. Then you have different issues in the squad.

“That’s the position we’re in and that’s why I’ve always believed we had a good summer window but would need a good January window then a good summer window and a period of time to where we want to get.

“There are a lot of examples of teams in a transition period where they feel like they’ve fallen down and want to get to where they want to be - and it rarely happens overnight. We have to be sensible in that fact and not make mistakes as we try to move up the ladder again.”