The game-changing £40m double transfer deal that could take Everton to the next level

This may not be an easy summer at Everton. Thanks to Sean Dyche’s hard-boiled management they dodged relegation from the Premier League with relative ease despite a double points deduction, but they are likely to lose several key players in the summer and have little clarity over who will own the club come August. Change is coming, and it might not be a pleasant process.

The Toffees’ ability to operate in the transfer market is likely to be restricted by a challenging financial situation and owners who don’t want to continue investing substantial sums into the club – and that means much of the summer may be spent finding replacements for departing stars after the fact. With key players like Jarrad Branthwaite and Amadou Onana likely to move on, getting the right players to replace them will be critical.

Everton have, inevitably, been linked with a range of players in both roles. Some rumours seem plausible, others rather less so – but there are two standout signings that they could conceivably make that would plug those holes rather more effectively than the alternatives.

At centre-back, it’s hard to imagine that Everton could do a great deal better than a bid for Hull City’s Jacob Greaves, one of the best young centre-backs in the Championship and a player who has been persistently linked with a move to the Premier League, with Goodison Park a possible destination.

He offers a lot of the same qualities that Branthwaite has. He’s tall at 6’4” and dominant in the air, a rugged tackler and is superb at anticipating and dealing with direct balls over the top. Branthwaite has been one of the best last lines of defence in the top flight this season, and Greaves much the same in the second tier.

But while Branthwaite is improving his technique and passing at a steady clip, Greaves seems to be ahead of him on that score. He’s more comfortable on the ball and can take it out of defence with his feet or with quick passes according to circumstances. Greaves hasn’t yet been tested at the highest level and there will be a perfectly reasonable question mark over what he can do until he is, but he seems to have a more well-rounded skill set than Branthwaite.

Greaves would likely set Everton back at least £15m, which isn’t cheap but is considerably less than Branthwaite is likely to fetch, even if claims of a £100m price tag for the 21-year-old seem wildly ambitious. West Ham United have been repeatedly linked with a bid as well, and that could be the biggest stumbling block – another team could make a better pitch. His performances have been good enough to attract attention, and it’s likely there will be a bidding war of some stripe.

But he has the quality to make sure Everton wouldn’t miss Branthwaite too much, and the potential to be a truly superb player at the highest level. He’d also allow the club to develop another relatively young player (Greaves is 23) who could feasibly be sold on for a profit down the line if he flourishes. He ticks just about every box you care to come up with.

Finding a midfielder won’t be easy either, but practically every halfway-decent side England, Spain and elsewhere have been linked with a move for Onana, who could easily fetch £50m – there should, at least, be some funds available to sign a solid replacement.

And using the same logic as with Greaves – that you want to find a player who can replicate the departing star’s output but who also has potential to develop and increase in value down the line, it’s hard not to feel optimistic about a recent report from Portugal which links Everton with Benfica defensive midfielder Florentino Luís.

The 24-year-old has a couple of years on Onana, but is hardly an ancient – and while he’s a pretty straightforward sort of player, he’s extremely effective at what he does, which is make tackles and keep the ball moving. Indeed, he makes considerably more tackles and interceptions per game than Onana (albeit at a lower level of competition) while having a notably better passing range.

Luís completes far more passes, including over long and medium distance, and that means getting the ball forward more efficiently and effectively – and his combination of physicality, rugged defensive work and capacity to get play to the front line at speed means he is, put simply, the kind of player that Dyche salivates over.

It isn’t clear whether he would fit the budget – there’s no clear indication yet as to how much money Benfica would demand for his services beyond his outsized €120m (£102m) release clause, which isn’t going to be a factor in negotiations, and unverified rumours that Everton had a bid in the region of €30m (£25.5m) turned down in January. Somewhere between there and the £50m they should get for Onana sounds fair.

So while there’s a lot of uncertainty in Everton’s immediate future, not everything needs to seem too bleak. They have a fine manager who has turned the club into a tough team to beat and they already appear to have identified excellent targets to replace the players who are likely to depart – all they have to do is make sure they make those signings. That won’t necessarily be easy, but at least there’s a clear, positive path forward on the pitch. The boardroom, sadly, is another matter entirely.