N’Golo Kante is gone and other players could be joining him, but this departure could be the biggest blow yet for Leicester City.
Steve Walsh, 51, has left as Leicester’s assistant manager and Head of Recruitment.
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He has been named as the new Director of Football at Everton as the former PE teacher and scout for Bury, Chester and Chelsea continues his remarkable rise through the ranks.
Walsh has been credited with unearthing several gems for Leicester such as Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, plus using his close links with Manchester United’s academy to snap up Danny Drinkwater, Danny Simpson and others. At Chelsea he was their European scout under Jose Mourinho and recommended the signings of Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Gianfranco Zola and many more.
Speaking to Everton’s website Walsh admitted it was an honor to join Everton.
Chairman Bill Kenwright called Walsh’s work “the stuff of football folklore” and new Everton manager Ronald Koeman added that “the magnificent work he did at Leicester on top of the job he did at Chelsea makes us excited to have him here at Everton.”
Walsh’s CV speaks for itself as he continued to unearth incredible talents on a relatively small budget at Leicester and, alongside Claudio Ranieri, he was a huge part of their success in winning a first-ever league title in their 132-year history.
Going forward, Everton has everything in place to become a force in the Premier League.
In Walsh they have one of the best recruiters in the game, while they have also brought in Koeman this summer who is one of the most coveted managers in Europe. Couple those two additions together with new owner Farhad Moshiri willing to spend big on new players and everything is looking pretty good for the Toffees.
Now, they need to keep hold of some of their best players in John Stones and Romelu Lukaku this summer and add shrewd signings which will see them challenge for the top four in the Premier League and domestic trophies.
That’s where Walsh comes in.
