Andre Gomes or Charlton Athletic?

When Everton went on the doomed summer spree of 2017 I regularly (much to the annoyance of fellow fans) pointed out that the money we had spent on players since Moshiri's takeover was approximately the same as was being touted to takeover Sevilla FC.

Yes, a 5 times UEFA/Europa winning club, regularly in the Champions League for the same cost Everton had invested in such luminaries as Yannick Bolasie, Ashley Williams, Davvy Klaassen, and Morgan Schneiderlin.

Obviously, it is far different buying a club to buying an individual player, but I've long thought there are better ways for clubs to approach signing players than just shelling out tens of millions for marginal improvements.

Why are players important?

Because whatever else a club does brilliantly or woefully everything other than the players on the pitch is peripheral. All the nutrition, specialised fitness training, psychology sessions and man management in the world won't turn a non-league player into a world-class player. The ability has to be there.

Do managers make a difference?

A competently managed team of good players will beat a well-managed team of bad players almost all of the time.

By far the most important thing a club can do is find good players, keep them happy and coach them well.

Put Pep Guardiola in charge of a Sunday League team and they would improve a lot. But if they came up against even a League 2 club they would be destroyed.

Even at the top level it isn't that surprising when Liverpool look a lot better with Allison, Van Djik and Salah instead of Karius, Lovren and Ings.

So whilst managers are important, and particularly at the elite level, players are more important.

The best teams have the best players.

Getting good players costs a lot. But you can be strategic, and this is where I think clubs waste a lot of money.

Every club has a level of player they are able to attract based on a number of factors, but mainly how much they can pay and the level of competition they play in.

As Everton have shown it is very easy to spend a lot of money on getting in a lot of players who don't make you significantly better.

How do you get good players?

This is where I think clubs are missing a trick.

You either develop your own players or you buy players from other clubs.

Even the clubs with the best youth development systems struggle to actually get their own youth products into the first team. Why should this be?

(1) Football is a global sport. If you are looking for 1 player for your first team there are several hundred players you could conceivably consider with vastly more experience. You don't get data and analytics without playing.
(2) The development gap - one of the big problems is few players are first team ready at Premier League level at 18. Some won't be until 22. But they might well be first team ready in a different style or level of football. So what happens to them in these intervening years? They often get surpassed by new signings or subsequent youth products.
(3) Competition and poaching - even the biggest clubs get youth players poached. Everton and Liverpool lose players to Manchester City who offer phenomenal packages for youngsters. If you are a 14 year old showing promise at any non-elite academy you will be signed. There are absolute gluts of youngsters in some youth systems and they still sign more, more, more.
(4) The other people's lives issue - much like social media only shows you the edited highlights of other people's lives externally purchased players tend to benefit from a skewed view.  If you train with a player every day you know what they are good at, and what they aren't. New signings are mainly signed because they have been in good form. What is often overlooked, and leads to them being overrated relative to existing players, is that you can't replicate exactly all the on pitch and off pitch factors that contributed.
(5) Managers are judged on signings. Pay £20m for a left back, give him a £70k a week 5 years deal and then drop him for a youth product. No chance.

So the problem isn't always finding good players, Everton, for example, have 25 in the first team squad, 19 out on loan - some to CL clubs - and still top the U23 league.

The Red Bull model

The most surprising thing about the "Red Bull" model, and to a lesser extent the "City group" model is how few clubs have tried to replicate it. Yes, the odd club has signed a co-operation deal with a lower league Belgium club that has fizzled out over a few years.

To me creating a network of cooperating clubs with a similar playing style, complementary recruitment plans, and shared infrastructure is one of the obvious ways to improve mid-tier clubs looking to join the elite.

RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig are both regular competitors in European competition and have developed a reputation for scouting and player development that lets them punch far above their financial weight.

We are living in an era where Stoke City have spent £50m on Kevin Wimmer, Gianelli Imbula and Badou Ndiaye in a failed attempt to stay in the Premier League. The money is there to be sensibly invested in a sustainable business model but time and time again clubs just spend money on short term gaps.

So take a club like Everton with £50m to spend. You could spend it on Andre Gomes (£30m) plus a 4 year contract (£20m). Gomes is a good player, he will improve Everton's midfield but not to such an extent that he will turn the club into a top 6 side.

On the other hand, £50m would buy Charlton Atheltic.

Again I know it is more complicated than this but this is a thought exercise, not a business plan.

Charlton Athletic is situated in South London, in arguably the most fertile youth development area of the country. In the last few years they've developed Joe Gomez, Ademola Lookman, Karlan Grant and Erzi Konsa. Easily £50m worth of talent. Plus those they've missed out on due to the chaotic ownership making them a less attractive prospect.

A development deal (however structured to get around multi-club ownership rules) could see the likes of Brendan Galloway and Josh Bowler going to Charlton to develop. They are both easily good enough for League One whilst being miles off Premier League ready. The financial stability would allow Charlton to retain their own identity whilst turning into the club for giving first-team minutes to young players.

Perhaps this isn't realistic within England given ownership rules and the massive debts and liabilities of lower league clubs. However, there are lots of Ligue 2 clubs ready for a similar arrangement, Paris FC or Red Star perhaps? Lorient? RC Lens?

Either way, you would be buying a prime catchment area outside of the crowded North West of England, a potential doubling of supply of youth players, a way of offering first team experiences to your own players and all for the price of one first-team player.