What could Roberto Martinez do with £45m at Everton this summer?

There are increasingly authoritative reports that Everton, 9/1 with Coral for a top six finish this season, are willing to listen to offers for star player Ross Barkley to fund a spending spree for Roberto Martinez to add strength to his Toffees squad.

Barkley has long been linked with both Manchester clubs and Chelsea, though it appears that Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City are the most serious about signing the 21-year-old, who will be an ideal long term replacement for Yaya Toure.

Any fee is likely to be between £45m and £60m, though there are ongoing concerns over how much funds are available for the club to spend, following new Financial Fair Play regulations. These restrictions will prevent them from spending in January and there is likely to be a review in the summer, where any transfer budget should become more transparent. The size of this will be dependent on a number of variables, though mainly will be dictated by the club’s commercial performance throughout the season, and projected forecasts for the next couple of years.

It was reported in December that City were confident of meeting FFP rules after reporting record revenues of £346.5m. This included their losses halved to £23m, of which £16m was a UEFA fine, an increase in their revenue by 28 per cent after winning the Premier League, and by no longer having the biggest wage bill in the league. The Premier League title win, plus FFP fines last year prompted renegotiated TV deals, as well as diversification of global revenue streams via a network of partners and affiliates.

If it does materialise that they can spend a considerable amount, and there appears to be a growing confidence that they can, then expect them to make Eveton’s Barkley their number one target, which means the Merseyside club will be in line for a considerable windfall. Here at Coral, we suggest a number of ways Martinez can spend at least £45m to reinvigorate his squad.

Upgrade of striking options
Everton do have record signing Romelu Lukaku and the reliable Steven Naismith, though in reserve they must rely on the ageing Samuel Eto’o and Arouna Kone who are useful to have around, though must know their time is numbered.

Burnley’s Danny Ings, who is sought after by a number of Premier League clubs, including Newcastle, is a viable option and is likely to cost anywhere between £7m and £10m. The 22-year-old clearly has talent, and he may see Eveton plus the influence of Martinez as the ideal platform to breaking into the England senior squad.