Keith Wyness disagrees with ‘most Everton fans’ in terms of where he wants team to finish
Everton need to continue building their squad before they can compete in European competition.
That is according to ex-Everton, Aston Villa, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who is predicting that the Toffees could qualify for either the Europa League or Europa Conference League this season.
David Moyes’ side sit just three points below fifth-placed Liverpool, which could be the final Champions League spot, with seven Premier League fixtures remaining.
A 3-0 victory over Chelsea last time out boosted Everton’s chances of playing European football for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.
Everton face Brentford next in the Premier League in another crucial match for their European ambitions, with the London side only above the Toffees in the table on goal difference.
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VISIT THE EVERTON MATCH HUBEverton have ‘great chance’ of European qualification
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes a “hard” run-in could see Moyes’ side fade away from the Champions League places.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness thinks Everton should look to “rebuild” in the summer transfer window and look to qualify for Europe next season.
| Opponent | Venue |
| Brentford | Gtech Community Stadium |
| Liverpool | Hill Dickinson Stadium |
| West Ham | London Stadium |
| Manchester City | Hill Dickinson Stadium |
| Crystal Palace | Selhurst Park |
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I see the run-in being quite hard for Everton. I don’t see that many points being picked up.
“Apart from the derby against Liverpool, which I think Everton have got to have a great chance of winning right now. But apart from that, I don’t think they’ll push on for the end of the season to be able to get the requirement to do a Champions League push.
“But there are all sorts of permutations right now of how far down the European positions could go, depending on who wins the FA Cup and all sorts of things in the Champions League. So we’ll wait and see.
“It looks like I may not get my wish, and they may qualify for either the Europa League or the Conference League, but I’d like us to finish tenth if we could do, to be honest, and rebuild again next season, but I’m in the minority in terms of that situation I’m sure.”
Everton make decision over Vitalii Mykolenko’s future
Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider that Everton want to hand Vitalii Mykolenko a new contract to remain on Merseyside.
The left-back’s contract at Everton expires at the end of the season, but Moyes does want to keep Mykolenko at the club.
Mykolenko is set to face greater competition for places in the squad next season, with the full-back areas seen as a key position which Everton want to strengthen in.
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