Sean Dyche said he had no knowledge of the plans of The Friedkin Group but that, if nothing had changed by January, he believed the club could struggle to turn down suitable offers for players
Sean Dyche believes Everton will not be able to turn down significant bids out of principle before the takeover of the club is completed.
The Blues boss said he had no insight into how the January transfer window would look should prospective new owners the Friedkin Group win approval for their bid.
But if there is no change in leadership his understanding appears to be that offers that meet the club’s valuation for a player would be accepted, should they be made.
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His comments come amid speculation that Manchester United retain an interest in Jarrad Branthwaite, for whom they had two bids rejected in the summer.
Asked whether the club would be able to turn down a sizeable offer for the 22-year-old, Dyche said ahead of the trip to West Ham United: “It certainly won’t be anything to do with me – bids for the players. Any bids for the players will not be anything to do with me. You know – or you can imagine – the financial situation here. So we have already had to sell players here I didn’t want to sell. That is just part of the current business of the club.”
Financial constraints at the club have previously led to Dyche losing players he deemed key to his team, including Alex Iwobi to Fulham on the final day of the summer 2023 transfer window.
But Everton were able to hold firm as Manchester United attempted to take him to Old Trafford in the summer for fees the club considered well below his true value. Dyche has, separately, said he believed the club could withstand token bids for Dominic Calvert-Lewin in January, given that any offer would likely be small as he would be six months from the end of his contract.
Asked whether he was under the impression new ownership could change the position on bigger offers, he said: “I haven’t met them, I haven’t spoken to them, I don’t know any of their plans, their thoughts or feelings about the club at this time or the finances. So that would clearly be a new decision.
“The current decision would be that it is likely that if somebody bid enough money for any player… any player at this football club as you have seen over the last couple of windows, if someone offers enough money then they go. Alex Iwobi was like that a day or so before the deadline. I didn’t want to lose Alex but they said: ‘Look, this is a deal we’ve got to do.’ I said ‘OK’ and that’s the way it goes, so therefore I better mould it towards the next lot of players and how many I can get in and use.”
