---
title: "Everton: Phil McNulty tears into club’s January business"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/everton-phil-mcnulty-slams-catastrophic-transfer-business/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Mark Murphy"
section: "Everton News"
published: "2023-02-01T12:45:34Z"
modified: "2023-02-01T12:45:34Z"
---

# Everton: Phil McNulty tears into club’s January business

**BBC Sport journalist Phil McNulty has labelled [Everton’s](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/everton-fc-transfer-rumours/) lack of spending in January as a ‘catastrophic failure’ from the board.**

### The Lowdown: No new signings

[Sean Dyche’s](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/tag/sean-dyche/) side were [unable](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/everton-fc/transfers/verein/29/plus/?saison_id=2022&pos=&detailpos=&w_s=w) to bring any new players through the door this month, with the returns of Ellis Simms and Niels Nkounkou from their respective loan moves the only form of new arrivals at Goodison Park this month.

Late on deadline day, the club were linked with a move for Andre Ayew according to [L’Equipe](https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/actu-en-direct/le-mercato-en-direct/live/31-01-2023/67), but Sky Sports reporter [Vinny O’Connor](https://twitter.com/VinnOConnor/status/1620515731216695300?s=20&t=w-N0z80QW2H7OV7tO3O5Og) claimed there was ‘nothing’ in the link when speaking to the [Premier League](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/premier-league-news/) club.

### The Latest: McNulty slams Everton board

McNulty took to [Twitter](https://twitter.com/philmcnulty/status/1620570931465945088?s=20&t=w-N0z80QW2H7OV7tO3O5Og) and lambasted the lack of transfer activity from Everton, pointing fingers at the owner and director of football Kevin Thelwell.

He tweeted: “Everton’s failure to sign a player in January is a catastrophic failure by the owner, the board and director of football Kevin Thelwell. This is the club that boasted about a ‘strategic review’ and ended the window weaker than when it started while lying in the relegation zone.”

### The Verdict: The pressure’s on

We believe the lack of spending in January puts huge pressure on the Everton players and new manager Dyche for the remainder of the season.

The board has come under immense criticism in recent times, with pundit Tam McManus tearing into them earlier this month, claiming ‘the ownership doesn’t listen to the fans’.

McManus also criticised the club’s poor recruitment and claimed that the current players simply ‘aren’t good enough’ when speaking to [Football Insider](https://www.footballinsider247.com/everton-must-stick-with-frank-lampard-as-club-board-slammed-its-a-shambles-says-pundit/).

Our view is that Everton’s current batch of players got them into [the situation](https://www.skysports.com/premier-league-table) they’re in, so they needed to add quality to the squad by bringing in new players.

Dyche [arrived](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12796509/sean-dyche-everton-confirm-former-burnley-boss-as-their-new-manager-on-two-and-a-half-year-contract) at Goodison Park late into the transfer window, but the club should’ve had a list of potential candidates for him to assess.

We see it as sheer negligence from the Toffees hierarchy and they’re the ones who will have a lot to answer for should they be relegated, having failed to bring in multiple targets in January such as [Kamaldeen Sulemana](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64469266) and [Conor Gallagher](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12799318/conor-gallagher-everton-in-transfer-talks-with-chelsea-over-deal-to-sign-midfielder).