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Ex-Everton scout swipes at two summer signings for being nowhere near the level of their 'best player'
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- Ex-Everton scout swipes at two summer signings for being nowhere near the level of their 'best player'
Everton's struggles of late come down to their failure to properly replace Iliman Ndiaye in the summer transfer window.
That is according to former senior Everton scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
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The Toffees sold the 26-year-old to Manchester City for £65million on transfer deadline, with Jack Grealish coming the other way.
The Englishman was missing as Everton lost 2-0 to Arsenal on Saturday, with fellow summer arrivals Tyrique George and Brennan Johnson failing to leave an impression.
Ndiaye was arguably David Moyes' key man going forward last season, and he has started well with three assists in eight games for Man City.
Everton, in the wake of his departure, have struggled for goals, netting just eight in their eight Premier League games so far this season.
Everton resigned to mid-table finish once again
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Though there were positive signings, Everton fans were ultimately left with disappointment following a summer that should have signalled ambition.
The Toffees sold arguably their best player and left themselves short in attack by not replacing Beto, while also spending just £4m on an already short defence.
"The difference between the teams is quality. How would Arsenal have been if they sold [Martin] Odegaard in the summer? Everton went and sold their best player, Ndiaye," King told Football Insider.
"He's a massive loss to a club like Everton. Most definitely, he was Everton's best player. And if you don't replace your best player, you're going to find it difficult.
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"They started off reasonably well, but the moment they played two of the supposedly top teams, Chelsea and Arsenal, they just look ordinary because it's the quality of the teams you're playing against.
"You look at their side, I mean, it's an 8th to 14th for me. You can look at 8th, you can look down to 14th. That's where they're going to finish for me.
"You can't lose your best player and not replace him. You bring the kid in from Chelsea [George], you bring in Grealish, but neither of them open defences like the boy who went to Man City does."
Everton dodge Beto bullet as Fiorentina transfer 'update' emerges David Moyes says it all on Everton
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Speaking after Saturday's defeat, Moyes seemed to make a statement in his verdict of the game.
"Well, it was a huge advantage with the squad they've got, and the players have got, undoubtedly, but they've earned it because of what they've done," the Scot said.
"They've built a squad up and they've strengthened year on year. They've got a really powerful team. But you hope that on the day, you can sometimes get a result out of it.
"We came here last year and played well. I thought we played better last year than we did today. But maybe going to goal down early, we just found it quite difficult to get a foothold in the game really."
