Summary Everton focused on bolstering their frontline in the transfer window, but neglected the defensive third, with key departures and no replacements. Yerry Mina, despite his potential, had an injury-ridden career at Everton and failed to sustain consistent form, leading to his release. 18-year-old Jack Tierney, with his footballing intellect and recovery from injury, could be a valuable squad option in the future for Everton under Sean Dyche.
Heading into the summer transfer window, it was clear that Sean Dyche would focus his attention on the bolstering of the frontline, and while Everton welcomed a raft of new attacking additions, there is perhaps a concern that the Premier League club is not actually in a stronger state.
Indeed, welcoming five new faces to the first-team fold, Everton sought to rectify the woes of last season, escaping relegation on the final day of the season with a narrow victory over Bournemouth, relegating Leicester City in their stead.
Beto
£25.8m
Youssef Chermiti
£15m
Jack Harrison
Loan
Arnaut Danjuma
Loan
Ashley Young
Free
All statistics sourced via Sky Sports
The Goodison Park side finished as the division's second-lowest scorers, but have now somewhat neglected the defensive third despite Yerry Mina's contractual expiry, Conor Coady's loan conclusion and Mason Holgate's loan departure to Southampton.
Why did Everton release Yerry Mina?
One of the most notable exits from the blue half of Merseyside this summer was that of Colombian centre-half Mina, who signed for Serie A side Fiorentina – who lost last term's Europa Conference League final to West Ham United – on a free transfer in August.
The hulking defender was signed from Barcelona in an initial £27m deal in 2018 off the back of a World Cup campaign that saw him plunder three goals from three matches – including an equalising header against England in the round-of-16.
Making 99 appearances for the Toffees and scoring nine goals, the 28-year-old was plagued by injury problems throughout his five years at Goodison Park – his match action worked out to just 19.8 games per season – and he actually spent 31 fixtures on the sidelines across the past two campaigns alone.
The club's joint-highest earner last season on £120k-per-week, it is hardly surprising that he was released; a fine centre-back on his day, Mina simply failed to sustain form with any real regularity for the lion's share of his career on English soil.
Who is Jack Tierney?
The issue that Dyche is presented with is that he failed to bring in a defensive acquisition to replace Mina, or indeed Coady or Holgate.
Jarrad Branthwaite's return from a successful loan move with Eredivisie outfit PSV Eindhoven has certainly bolstered the club's backline after the exits of the aforementioned stars, but while the 21-year-old is a talented and "skilful" prospect – as has previously been said by Carlo Ancelotti – as the season digs deeper the time may come for rotation.
One homegrown solution to this problem could be welcoming 18-year-old titan Jack Tierney to the first-team fray, with the 'commanding' teen – as has been stated on his official club profile – impressing across his 30 outings for the U18s.
Heralded by reporter Jack Beesley for his "crucial" reading of the game, he may well boast a footballing intellect fit for purpose at the highest level in the Premier League.
And while it is unlikely that he would earn a regular starting berth in Dyche's side, he could prove to be a valuable squad option, absorbing the fruits of his senior peers' labours as he grows into his skin and improves his physicality over the coming years.
That being said, Tierney received his first professional contract with Everton in June, provided with a pathway to prominence despite suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2022 – he is, however, firmly on the road to recovery.
While unavailable at present, Tierney could prove to surprise a few later on this season as he recovers from his current setback and looks to wedge his way into Dyche's plans.