4 out of contract players Everton should offer new deals | OneFootball

It’s no secret that this summer is going to be a massive one in the history of Everton Football Club.

Not only is the club scheduled to move into its new home on Bramley-Moore Dock after 133 seasons at Goodison Park, but 13 players on the current squad are either out of contract or due to be sent back to their parent clubs at season’s end.

Loanees like Armando Broja, Jesper Lindstrom, and Charly Alcaraz may include an option to buy, one of many things that manager David Moyes and newly appointed CEO Angus Kinnear and their staff will need to sort out once the transfer window opens up after the season ends.

It’s not possible for all the moves to feature new players, a feat that would be both expensive and time-consuming, although there may be avenues – such as players available for free transfers – that will need to be considered.

That doesn’t mean that the current crop of outgoing players should be simply tossed away life chaff in the wind, as there is still quality there to build upon while new additions are also brought into the club.

Of the 13 set to hit the open market this summer, these are the top four that Everton should prioritize to bring back on a new contract.

No.4: Winger Jesper Lindstrom

To be fair, Jesper Lindstrom’s loan spell from Napoli hasn’t been the best (he’s scored just once in 25 appearances), although part of that had to do with the Danish international not exactly getting a big chance under former manager Sean Dyche.

While Dyche was in charge, Lindstrom only played a full 90-minute match once – in a 0-0 draw away to West Ham in early November – and only managed to surpass the hour mark on four additional occasions.

In fairness to Dyche, however, he hasn’t completed a match under Moyes yet either and has now missed the last two matches against Liverpool and Arsenal due to injury after a 22-minute cameo at Goodison against West Ham before the international break.

This move is predicated entirely on what Lindstrom can provide and where those skills suggest he could improve. Lindstrom has more pace than maybe anyone else on the squad, something that Everton need a great deal more of as they search for new players.

Lindstrom's recent hernia surgery may impact whether the club wants to keep him or if Napoli would even be interested in selling, but all things being equal, the 25-year-old winger could be a key cog in the new version of Everton for next season.

The hope would be that Lindstrom will continue to work to improve as a goal scorer and use that pace and skill on the ball to build himself in that direction.

No.3: GK João Virgínia

While this may seem high for a backup goalkeeper, the current depth at the position is set to be Jordan Pickford and a few kids from the U21s.

Virgínia hasn’t had much opportunity to play (he has just two senior appearances this season, both in cup matches), but he did keep a clean sheet against Peterborough in the FA Cup and acquitted himself well in a penalty-shootout loss to Southampton in the EFL Cup.

The Portuguese international is only 25 and won’t turn 26 until October, so he’s in prime position to take over as the sole no.2 goalkeeper if the club desires. And to his credit, Virginia recently came out to express his desire to stay on Merseyside.

It’s not a flashy move, but the club will have bigger problems to solve in other areas of the pitch, so keeping Virginia around for a few more years to serve as Pickford’s understudy is a solid move, especially since the player is keen to stick around.

No.2: CM Charly Alcaraz

This one is a slight cheat, since Everton has it all in their control as to whether Alcaraz, currently on loan from Flamengo in Brazil, sticks around beyond the end of this season.

The option to buy that’s included in the loan agreement from Flamengo reportedly becomes an obligation after a certain number of starts in the league, although the triggering number and the fee that Everton will take on aren’t quite certain (the fee, according to Patrick Boyland at The Athletic, is €15 million).

Keeping Alcaraz – who has already stated his desire to stay at Everton – is a no-brainer, as the Argentine has injected life into the attack since his arrival on Merseyside and would be one player who would benefit from an influx of new talent joining him in the attacking third.

He won’t even turn 23 until late November, he’s already on his second stint in the Premier League after a loan spell at Southampton for the second half of the 2022/23 campaign, where he logged over 1000 minutes and bagged four goals (naturally, his debut came against Everton at Goodison on 14 January 2023).

Charly Alcaraz is the type of player that Everton should be investing in moving forward – young, talented, and if needs must, the potential to sell in a few years at a profit.

Since they control the narrative here, this is an easy call for the club.

No.1: CDM Idrissa Gana Gueye

It is remarkable to think that Everton sold Idrissa Gueye to PSG for a reported €30 million back in 2019 when he was at the height of his value.

The Senegalese international went on to play over 7000 minutes for the Parisian giants across all competitions, including 24 appearances in the UEFA Champions League.

And yet he was considered surplus to requirements after three seasons in France, and Everton scooped him back up before the 2022 campaign for a mere €4 million, €4.5 million less than they paid Aston Villa for his services in 2016.

Gana was 32 when he returned to Merseyside and he’s been regularly excellent in the three seasons since he’s been back, turning in arguably a Player of the Season performance in 2024/25 (an honor that has gone to Jordan Pickford the last three years).

And even as he prepares to turn 36 in September, he’s shown no signs of slowing down, mostly because his game is not predicated on extreme athleticism but more on an exquisite ability to read the game defensively.

This decision has been complicated by Gana's agent, Bassirou Sakho, recently coming out and saying that a move to Saudi Arabia for the midfielder has been worked out, although Sakho does admit that Gana "will be the only master to decide whether he wants a sporting or financial challenge at this advanced stage of his career."

It is certainly something to monitor, even if this is just a play by the agent to get his player the contract he is looking for.

While the central midfielder can’t be the long-term solution at the position at his age (yet another role the club will look to fill in the coming transfer window), locking Gana down for another two seasons and allowing him to be part of the move to Bramley-Moore is a crucial move that Everton must make heading into the summer months.