Jug-ears chasing another signing on fee

By Chris Kirwan
June 28 2003

Francis Jeffers has declared his interest in a return to Everton. Whether the interest is mirrored is another matter. With the Blues short on money and a first-class midfielder a move seems unlikely.

Jeffers, who has finds his route to the first team at Highbury blocked by Henry, Bergkamp, Wiltord, and Kanu, stated:

"Arsene Wenger is a great manager and I haven't got any problems, but |'d love a move back to Everton. It's no secret that I'm a massive Everton fan and always will be. I love the club. They have come on in leaps and bounds since I left and David Moyes seems to be doing an amazing job."

Jeffers is a fine player, but there are a couple of major obstacles to any move. Firstly the Blues have plenty of strikers on their books. With Radzinski, Rooney, Campbell, Chadwick and Ferguson already at the club Moyes will surely see strengthening the midfield as his main concern.

Then there is the problem of money. Moyes has around £5 million at his disposal and wouldn’t want to spend most of his budget on a transfer fee for Jeffers. Jeffers would also command a hefty wage packet, and with Ferguson and Campbell already on big money Moyes would be loathe to offer him anything like the money he currently earns.

Jeffers has reportedly been offered to Leeds as part of the Kewell deal, and will no doubt need to get regular first-team football to add to his international record of 1 cap, 1 goal. Wenger may also be keen to bring his young compatriot Jerome Aladiere through to the Jeffers role of occasional striker.

Of course fresh in the mind is Jeffers’ celebration after scoring against the Blues at Highbury two years back, but he’s not all bad, he dived to get a point of the Kopites. He needs to get back to the simple things he was doing when he came to the fore in partnership with Campbell. Instead he started to believe his own hype, and a move was always on the cards when he refused a new contract and returned from injury against Leicester wearing white boots.

I wouldn’t mind him coming back, but I wouldn’t want his transfer to inhibit the arrival of a creative midfielder. Some will cream themselves at the prospect of Rooney and Jeffers as strike partners, but that overlooks the fact the Radzinski was the Blues' player of the season and that the season tailed of with his injury.