Ranking Everton’s ten worst signings under Farhad Moshiri

Everton have made some transfer blunders under Farhad Moshiri, but which signings feature in their top ten worst ever?

Farhad Moshiri’s reign as owner of Everton has been a very mixed bag. On the one hand, they’ve signed some top-quality names such as James Rodriguez, Jordan Pickford and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, they’ve had managers such as Carlos Ancelotti in charge, and they’ve spent a large chunk of money.

On the other hand, though, they’ve spent the majority of that money very poorly and that’s largely why the club are facing such financial difficulties right now. They’ve splashed the cash on more than a handful of stars who just didn’t cut it at Goodison Park and wound up being some of the side’s worst-ever players.

As they continue to slowly turn things around under Sean Dyche and try to avoid a relegation battle in the Premier League for the third straight season, let’s look back at how they’ve ended up where they are right now and identify the 10 worst signings that have been made during Moshiri’s time as owner.

Having already worked with Everton’s manager at the time, Rafa Benitez, this didn’t initially look like too bad of a move. Salomon Rondon had already proven he could score goals in the Premier League for West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle United and considering he didn’t cost the Toffees a single penny, it was hard to see this as a poor move.

Somehow, it still ended up being one, though, and that was largely down to how ineffectual the Venezuelan was in front of goal for the Merseyside club. He originally signed a two-year contract at Goodison Park, but was that poor that the side decided to release him from his deal six months before it was due to expire.

He played 31 times for Everton in all competitions, scoring just three goals and contributing very little else to the side. Not Benitez’s wisest move of all-time.

Theo Walcott had a solid career in the top flight of England before his move to Goodison Park. He spent over a decade at Arsenal and was always fine, but never quite lived up to the hype that surrounded him when he first burst onto the scene as a teenager at Southampton. He was never quite the guy at the Emirates, so a move to Everton was initially looked at as a chance for him to prove he could lead a team.

They spent £20m on the Englishman’s services, and he wasn’t quite worth that, at all. After joining the team during the 2017-18 season, he spent three years with Everton and played 85 times for the club. He also scored 11 goals, so it’s not as though Walcott was a complete diaster, he just didn’t come close to repaying the £20m that they spent.

Similarly to Walcott, Fabian Delph had the world thinking he was going to be an unbelievable footballer when he was younger. His time at Leeds United and Aston Villa had everyone taking notice, but a transfer to Manchester City completely derailed his career. He couldn’t quite compete at the Etihad in the manner they needed him to and when he moved to Goodison Park in 2019, it was seen as a chance to help him rediscover his old form.

Instead, injuries greatly impacted his time at the club, and he was restricted to just 41 appearances across three whole seasons with the Toffees. He retired in 2022 and left Everton having never scored a single goal for the team. He’d likely have fared much higher on this list if he cost more than the £8.5m that it cost to bring him into the fold.