‘Have to’ - Louis Saha sends clear Everton board message to Farhad Moshiri and Bill Kenwright

Louis Saha has urged Farhad Moshiri and the rest of the Goodison Park board to come up with a 'proper strategy' to ensure Everton escape their precarious situation.

The Toffees have been in a Premier League relegation battle in the past two seasons - and only secured survival on the final day in 2022-23. And off the pitch, Everton have recorded combined losses of more than £400 million since 2019.

Over the summer, chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale, chief finance and strategy officer Grant Ingles and non-executive director Graeme Sharp left the Goodison Park board. Subsequently, Colin Chong was installed as interim CEO and John Spellman was also appointed to the board along with majority shareholder Moshiri.

During the transfer window, Sean Dyche admitted that Everton had to find ways to ‘construct’ deals to recruit players such was their financial predicament. Beto and Youssef Chermiti were signed for a combined fee of around £32 million although The Athletic reports that the Blues won’t make a payment until ‘the next fiscal year’, Ashley Young was recruited on a free transfer while Arnaut Danjuma and Jack Harrison arrived on loan from Villarreal and Leeds United respectively.

Meanwhile, Alex Iwobi was sold to Fulham on deadline day for £22 million before Demarai Gray left for Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq for £8 million. The exits of Ellis Simms (Coventry City), Tom Cannon (Leicester City) and Ishe Samuels-Smith (Chelsea) raised what could reach a total of £20 million. What’s more, Everton raised £40 million when Anthony Gordon left for Newcastle United in January.

Saha, speaking to Paddy Power, believes that Dyche’s squad has been left short and has concerns about the current board. The former striker, who scored 35 goals for the Blues between 2008-2012, said: “There are concerns regarding the board at Everton because this team and this squad needs more. Having lost a key player from last year in [Alex] Iwobi and the year before it was [Anthony] Gordon, it has been strange.

“We've seen players depart not in the right manner and the players they’ve brought in haven’t performed so far. They [the board] must look at themselves and look at how they can change the dynamic because it’s tough right now for a club like Everton with the history they have. To get out of this situation they have to make strong decisions. They need to have a proper strategy going forward but we haven’t seen that, this is why the fans are so unhappy.

“It's a difficult one because when you look at what [David] Moyes had in terms of options and cash, and he was still able to maintain the levels. It's not about the manager, it’s about the club capacity to provide what the manager needs at that moment to perform, and that hasn't been the case. Ultimately something needs to be changed quickly.”