Everton chairman Bill Kenwright intervened to stop Everton from signing former West Ham United striker Marko Arnautovic in January, according to reports.
The deal was allegedly negotiated by the Toffees’ majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, who had promised Blues’ supporters a new centre-forward in an interview last month.
This will anger the fans, given Everton are in desperate need of a new striker and Kenwright, who has come under major scrutiny recently, passed up the opportunity to bring one in.
Indeed, Evertonians have protested in their thousands in recent weeks against the likes of Kenwright, club CEO Denis Barrett-Baxendale and Moshiri himself, for taking the club backwards over the last few years.
Before Moshiri became a majority shareholder, the Toffees were consistently challenging for Europe and were arguably on a par with clubs like Arsenal and Tottenham.
Now, Everton find themselves in the relegation zone after winning just four of their 22 opening league matches – which is officially the worst start to a season in their entire history.
The Blues have not been relegated since 1951 and have played more top-flight games than any other club, but now they have a real chance of dropping to the Championship, after narrowly avoiding that fate last season.
After Frank Lampard was sacked in January, to try and get themselves out of danger.
Allegedly, the former Burnley boss was promised at least two new signings before the January window closed, but ultimately Everton were the only Premier League team not to make a winter signing,
This only intensified the anger of Evertonians, who as mentioned have staged peaceful protests against the club’s board in their recent home fixtures.
Now, according to Football Insider, it has been revealed that Kenwright personally prevented Everton from signing a much-needed centre-forward in Arnautovic, by recommending against the move.
They state that the Blues had agreed to pay Bologna £2.5m as well as hand the 33-year-old a contract worth £150,000-a-week, running for two-and-a-half years.
However, Kenwright is understood to have strongly advised Moshiri against completing the transfer for Arnautovic because he believed it would bring a negative reaction from the fanbase.
While £150,000 per week is a LOT of money for a 33-year-old, Arnautovic has scored eight goals in 15 Serie A appearances for Bologna, which is more than Dominic-Calvert Lewin, Neal Maupay, Alex Iwobi and Dwight McNeil combined this season.
He also has a decent goal-scoring record in the Premier League, netting 22 goals in 65 appearances for West Ham during a two-year stint with the London club.
If the Austrian could have produced a similar return for Everton, that could have potentially made the difference between relegation and survival.
With that in mind, Kenwright will have to hope that Dyche can mastermind another great escape because if not, the protests are likely to only get worse for him.