BBC journalist thinks Everton ‘will have to’ sell £35k-a-week player this summer

Everton fans are used to not allowing themselves to get too excited, but their club has helped curb that anyway.

After all, supporting the Toffees is no easy task, and one which leaves even the strongest-willed finding it tough to keep going back.

Yet they always do, selling out home and away despite there seemingly being no light at the end of the tunnel. This club are so fortunate to boast such unrelenting fans. If only they could produce a team for them to be truly proud of.

This summer looks like it will not make many great strides towards that goal though, potentially having to go backwards again before they can start going forward.

Phil McNulty drops damning Everton transfer update

Writing for BBC Sport, their chief football writer, Phil McNulty, has now issued a rather damning update on Everton’s fortunes at the moment.

With takeover turmoil unrelenting, and PSR problems seemingly not going away, this summer promises to be one of misery and mass outgoings rather than celebrating the arrival of exciting new faces. They have to balance the books, and just as Kevin Thelwell has done ever since he joined the club, big sales put out fires.

Well, McNulty is predicting one particularly large one to come, as he claims: ‘I wish I could tell you when I could see a brighter or more optimistic future for Everton but at the moment I cannot.

‘The 777 takeover sounds fraught with difficulties and their track record rightly concerns fans. I suspect the best players like Jarrad Branthwaite will have to be sold to raise funds and will there even be decent money for replacements?

‘It is a dreadful situation, but at least they are in the Premier League next season and will move into a magnificent new stadium for the start of the next campaign.

‘These are the positives, but these are also very hard times and I feel very sorry for a brilliant, supportive fanbase.’

Who else could Everton sell this summer?

Alongside Jarrad Branthwaite, there are a host of other sellable assets that Sean Dyche boasts.

Ideally, none would go and the Toffees would be able to consolidate this solid season and use it to progress. But things are never easy with Everton.

So, as well as the £35k-a-week star man there is Amadou Onana, who has already garnered widespread interest.

Given he has recently dropped to the bench, coinciding with their return to form, Dyche might consider him one of the more expendable top-rated stars within his side.

Then, more recently Dwight McNeil has emerged as a shock player who could leave despite the 24-year-old boasting a keen affiliation with the manager.

As is the case with all three of these players though, only for an astronomical game-changing sum will they likely be allowed to leave.