Frank Lampard transfer plans must put Everton future over sentiment

Decision time is looming for Frank Lampard and Everton. By the second Saturday in June, as per Premier League rules, clubs must publish their retained and released lists. While this perhaps has more pertinence for lower-league clubs where players tend to be on shorter-term contracts, there are a number of issues for Lampard to resolve.

Fabian Delph, Jonjoe Kenny, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Cenk Tosun, and Andy Lonergan are all out of contract, while Donny van de Beek and forgotten man Anwar El Ghazi have finished their loan spells at the club. All of those stars combine to earn more than £400,000 per week in wages, according to various reports.

Despite the unforgettable night at Goodison Park against Crystal Palace and the magical scenes that accompanied the Toffees’ end of season survival push, it is arguably time for Lampard to be brutal in his contract decisions with players. There is no room for sentiment or to get caught up in the end of season joy as the former England international looks to rejuvenate and rebuild his squad to ensure Everton don’t ever again face the situation they experienced this year.

Cenk Tosun has already announced his departure on social media after a disappointing four-and-a-half year spell at the club which yielded just 11 goals after a £27m transfer from Besiktas. Similarly, Van de Beek’s loan spell was hampered by injuries and new Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has already spoken about his hopes for the Dutch midfielder back at Old Trafford. And even despite all of Everton’s transfer mistakes in the Farhad Moshiri era, there is surely no chance of the club making El Ghazi’s loan move permanent. Sigurdsson is set to leave at the end of his deal, while Lonergan will almost certainly depart