Everton have found themselves in hot water after splashing the cash in the transfer market since the arrival of owner Farhad Moshiri, despite having nothing to show for it between relegation battles and financial turmoil.
The Toffees have developed a reputation for poor recruitment strategies and overpaying for players who have offered very little in the way of comfortably competing in both the Premier League and domestic cup competitions, but it's not just the signings acquired that will haunt Moshiri if Everton suffer relegation this season.
It is common knowledge that the Merseyside club have missed the boat on several players that have been offered to them, only to realise later that they passed up on some of the most exciting talents in the world with an opportunity to sign Erling Haaland, one of their most famous snubs.
Indeed, Haaland will be the hardest pill for the Goodison Park faithful to swallow, but with the situation they have found themselves in over the past two seasons, the supporters would be happy just to see players who can offer consistency to compete in the top flight.
One player that Everton recently missed out on is Newcastle United's Sean Longstaff, with the club reportedly making a £1m offer back in January 2022 when Rafa Benitez was in charge and Longstaff was struggling to earn first-team football on Tyneside.
How is Sean Longstaff getting on at Newcastle?
The opportunity to sign Longstaff came about after Benitez enjoyed working with the player during his managerial stint at St James' Park and just before the Spaniard's sacking made the signing a priority to improve Everton's poor form.
At the time, the 25-year-old was in the last six months of his contract and struggling to compete for a spot in the Newcastle squad, which was further thrown into uncertainty with the arrival of Bruno Guimaraes in the same month.
Longstaff recently spoke in an interview with The Athletic, reflecting on his desire to reunite with his former manager at Goodison Park and was evem ready to make the switch:
"Earlier in the season, I was ready to go. I knew Everton weren’t in the best of form and with Rafa being ex-Liverpool, it was tricky for him, but in my head, I’d probably got to the point of, ‘Right, that’s it, that’s my decision’. Sometimes you need a fresh start to go find yourself."
However, after a bid was rejected by the Magpies and Benitez was sacked just days after, any opportunity to make the move to Everton seemingly fizzled out and Longstaff continued to fight for his spot, signing a new contract with the Toon.
Since then, Longstaff's dire situation has completely transformed for the midfielder, who has become an integral part of the club's successful League Cup run and has played a key role in their dreams of Champions League football next season close to coming to life.
The Englishman has been a solid starter alongside Guimaraes and Joelinton, forming a formidable midfield set-up that has put Newcastle in pole position to play European football and seen the side lose just four games over the entire season so far, which is an incredible achievement.
Longstaff's transformation has not gone unnoticed either, with Eddie Howe signing the praises of the club's academy graduate:
"Sean's been excellent. He does a lot of work, tireless work, for the team in every phase.
"We ask a lot of our midfield players, physically, and especially the wide ones. Sean has played that role on the right-hand side very intelligently and he's physically very good, tireless with his energy and defensively very good, improving all aspects of his game."
The midfielder's redemption has now meant that Newcastle would demand a much higher fee than Everton offered just 18 months ago, with reports suggesting that it would cost £50m to secure the player's services should there be interest in the summer.
With that being said, there is absolutely no doubt that Moshiri made a mistake not offering more than £1m for Longstaff when a deal was seemingly on the table, as his reliability and consistency in the centre of the pitch would have been extremely valuable to Everton during their fight for survival this season.
