June 8 – Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has quit the club after just two seasons in the job for the lure of Everton’s big money new owner. Saints will receive £5 million in compensation.
The move is a gamble for Koeman who took the Saints to seventh and sixth position in the Premier League in the two seasons he was in charge. Both seasons Southampton qualified for the Europa League. Everton finished below them both seasons and rarely challenged the top six teams from their position of mid-table mediocrity.
The 53 year old Dutchman takes over from Spaniard Roberto Martinez who had promised Everton fans Champions League football when he took over three years ago, but never really had the resources to challenge for the top honours and was sacked in May after finishing 11th in the league.
Farhad Moshiri, Everton’s major shareholder, has promised that he will make available the biggest transfer budget in the club’s history. Though with the new broadcast deal kicking in next season all the Premier League clubs have substantial transfer resources in this window.
Koeman’s personal deal is understood to be about £6 million per year with estimates of a £100 million war chest being made available immediately.
Everton will be expecting immediate success, which is what Koeman achieved at Saints where he took over after Mauricio Pochettino left for Tottenham Hotspur sparking an exodus of seven of the clubs first team first choices.
Koeman dipped into the club’s Academy resources and made some quick and smart signings (Dusan Tadic, Fraser Forster, Virgil van Dyke and Sadio Mane in particular) that, after a shaky opening couple of matches, pushed the club to their highest season finish in the Premier League (seventh), surpassed this season with the club’s sixth place finish.
Already other Premier League clubs are circling for Saints’ leading players and fans are bracing themselves for another exodus of talent. Fans have been vocal in their feelings of being let down by Koeman who they fear will now raid the club for its top players.
Koeman will have to fend off interest from both Manchester clubs for central defender John Stones, as well as deal with the expected departure of Romelu Lukaku. His Everton squad also needs to find a successor to midfielder Gareth Barry and a new goalkeeper.
All the positions he needs to be competitive could be filled by the players he has currently left behind at St Mary’s. Koeman is taking two of his backroom staff with him to Goodison.
Saints chairman Ralph Krueger had said discussions with Koeman over a new deal were progressing “in a very good direction”, but added the club was “not in any real hurry”. Koeman had a year left to run on his contract and had already told the press that his future was with Southampton.
But Krueger should perhaps have looked at Koeman’s track record as a manager which shows he is not shy when it comes to moving on. As well as Saints he has managed Vitesse Arnhem, Ajax, Benfica, PSV, Valencia, AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord.
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