Martinez saves best for last

Everton

In:
Arouna Kone - Wigan - £6m
Joel Robles - Atletico Madrid – Undisclosed
Antolin Alcaraz - Unattached – Free
Romelu Lukaku - West Brom – Loan
Gareth Barry - Man City – Loan
James McCarthy - Wigan - £13m

Out:
Thomas Hitzlsperger – Released
Jan Mucha – Released
Phil Neville – Retired
Marouane Fellaini - Manchester United - £27.5m
Victor Anichebe - West Brom - £6m

The Toffees have begun their 2013/14 premier league campaign with three points from three games after consecutive draws against Norwich, West Brom and Cardiff, all sides which they would have expected to beat last season. New manager Roberto Martinez had a very productive deadline day, bringing in Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea and Gareth Barry from Manchester City, both on loan, as well as Wigan midfielder James McCarthy for a hefty fee of £13m. After a very slow start, these acquisitions were needed and Martinez fared rather well to make some quite high quality signings, albeit on loan. Lukaku will give Everton that killer instinct which they have lacked in their opening three fixtures, being held goalless on two occasions. McCarthy comes in to plug the gap left by Marouane Fellaini’s late departure to Manchester United, with Everton managing to keep Leighton Baines out of David Moyes’ greasy palms coming as a great relief to their chances this season. Overall, a fruitful deadline day saved Martinez from an embarrassing window and it will be interesting to see how the Toffees fare from here on in.

Grade: B+

Everton performed highway robbery after managing to convince Manchester United to pay 27m for Fellaini, whose buyout clause which expired earlier in the window was less than this amount. They managed to keep hold of Baines, who is perhaps the Premier League’s best left back, as well as plugging holes in their attack and midfield with the signings of Barry, youngster McCarthy and Lukaku, culminating in a successful window.

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