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Team needs: 3 more moves Everton should make in the transfer window

Peter Cziborra / Reuters

The atmosphere at Goodison Park last season bordered on toxic as Roberto Martinez simply couldn't get it right in his third campaign at Everton.

The promising John Stones looked overawed by being subject of constant transfer speculation, and produced blunders and lapses of concentration with startling regularity at the back. The goal-scoring exploits of Romelu Lukaku brought some striking joy, but he wasn't ably supported in attack by either Arouna Kone or £13.5-million January signing Oumar Niasse.

The home record suffered in particular in 2015-16, and those in the stands simmered.

Under new majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri and the recently appointed gaffer Ronald Koeman there is reason for optimism though. The club coffers have been filled, a promise of attacking football offered, and a host of big names have been linked with transfers to Merseyside.

Unfortunately, the only incoming players so far have been Maarten Stekelenburg, Chris Renshaw, and Bassala Sambou - a modest beginning to a new era.

More moves are expected in Walton.

Here are three more tweaks Koeman could make to his team's spine to gatecrash the Premier League's European places:

Take the money for Stones, and run

There are the makings of a class defender in Stones, as the continued interest from Manchester City attests, but as long as the 22-year-old is subject of speculation he's not going to perform to the required level.

At times, 2015-16 was a horror show.

His listless wanderings at the back often eked out significant gaps for the opposition's attack to exploit, and his previously stolid showings were switched for shaky displays in possession. Comparisons to Rio Ferdinand looked awry, and similarities with Titus Bramble were a lot more apt.

£50 million? Obscene money that can help address many dearths in the lineup.

Widespread changes may not be required across the back four, however. Everton has a constant legion of youngsters filtering through from lower league clubs (ex-Milton Keynes Dons hopeful Brendan Galloway can impose himself further on the lineup), and a full preseason for left-back Leighton Baines could see him return to his best: the defender with the most assists (47) in Premier League history.

Potential targets: Daniel Ayala (Middlesbrough), Lewis Dunk (Brighton & Hove Albion), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joel Veltman (Ajax)

Shake up the attack

Kone is one of the players that epitomises Martinez's tenure.

One of his former Wigan Athletic ranks, brought in to help an attack seeking continental qualification, but who simply can't cut it at that level. A modest transfer target when Everton should've been going for loftier names.

Niasse remains an unknown quantity. The Senegalese mustered just 142 Premier League minutes following his winter arrival from Lokomotiv Moscow, and if Lukaku gets his wish to leave granted, it would leave him as the sole option up top.

Everton has been linked with countless bodies across other positions, but is yet to impose itself on the striking market.

It needs to be addressed.

Potential targets: Carlos Bacca (AC Milan), Sebastien Haller (FC Utrecht), Arkadiusz Milik (Ajax), Islam Slimani (Sporting CP)

Rid Barkley's burden with reliable legs in midfield

One area where Martinez was correct was in his assessment of Ross Barkley.

"Sometimes I want him to miss more passes," Martinez said. "When you are looking at the three thirds of a pitch, I want him to be 100 percent (accurate) in the middle and defensive thirds but in the final third he needs to risk more."

But his old Spanish boss didn't release his shackles, so Barkley still felt obliged to do plenty of leg work in front of the tiring Gareth Barry and impeccably-disciplined yet average physical attributes of James McCarthy. Barkley should be freed to burst through opposition defences, play through-balls and ping shots, but to do so he needs a battering ram patrolling in front of the back four; breaking up counter-attacks when a risky pass is intercepted.

William Carvalho appears tailor-made for this role. He was instrumental in plugging the midfield for Portugal at Euro 2016, and could work excellently as the least adventurous in a double pivot with McCarthy.

Potential targets: William Carvalho (Sporting CP), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United), Axel Witsel (Zenit St. Petersburg)

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