'I spent the entire evening at his house' - Marcel Brands reveals how close he was to making Mikel Arteta Everton's manager
Former director of football Marcel Brands claims he “moved heaven and earth” to bring Mikel Arteta back to Everton as manager.
Following the sacking of Marco Silva as Blues boss in December 2019 following a 5-2 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, which left the club in the relegation zone, Everton owner Farhad Moshiri ended up choosing Carlo Ancelotti as the now Fulham manager’s successor. But as with several appointments under the current regime, there were differences of opinion among Goodison Park’s top brass. Last year, West Ham United’s David Moyes, who was Everton’s long-serving manager between 2002-13, revealed he had been close to returning himself.
The Scot said: “When I was being offered the West Ham job, I had actually been in Germany with Farhad Moshiri to take the Everton job. The phone rang, and it was David Sullivan – in the middle of the meeting with Everton.
“I had to say, ‘I can’t speak just now’. But Carlo Ancelotti was sacked by Napoli that night, and they changed tack, even though I was due to sign the day before – I had told David.
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“But the next day Everton didn’t make more contact, so I phoned David and said, ‘If it’s still there’, and it couldn’t have gone better – it was the right choice.”
Now Brands, who the ECHO understands had Silva presented before him as Everton manager when he thought he would be first interviewing the Portuguese coach for the job when the pair both arrived in the summer of 2018, has spoken out about how he was desperate to get Arteta, who signed for the Blues as a player in 2005 under Moyes. The
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