Everton's dealings in the market have left much to be desired in recent years, with the club's erratic dealings in the window undoubtedly a contributing factor to the recent PSR breaches.
The Toffees' financial situation has been well documented, with the club restricted as to what they can spend on transfers to avoid any further breaches in the years ahead.
However, once upon a time, the hierarchy were capable of conducting excellent business, which included buying players on the cheap and selling them for a huge profit – subsequently making the club more sustainable.
Romelu Lukaku is the main example, with the club buying him for £28m before selling him to Manchester United for a whopping £75m just three years after his arrival on Merseyside.
Despite the brilliant deal for the Belgian – and then-boss Ronaldo Koeman – Everton also managed to receive an excellent deal for one player, with his deal eclipsing that of Lukaku in 2024.
Wayne Rooney's career at Everton
After arriving at the club's academy at the age of nine, striker Wayne Rooney rapidly progressed through the youth levels at Goodison Park, featuring for the U19 side at just 15 years of age.
He went on to make his first-team debut just a year later, featuring on the opening day of the 2002/03 season against Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park.
No one could've anticipated the impact Rooney would've had on Merseyside, especially considering the youthful age at which he broke into the club's first team.
He would fire home his first Toffees goal during the 2-1 win over Arsenal at Goodison – a goal that would go down in Everton's history, with Rooney becoming the club's second-youngest-ever goalscorer behind James Vaughan.
The emerging superstar would go on to register six Premier League goals during his debut season, a remarkable feat for a player of Rooney's age, finishing as the club's third top scorer, behind Tomasz Radzinski and Kevin Campbell.
Rooney would improve his goalscoring record the following campaign, scoring nine times – a tally that would catch the attention of one of England's biggest clubs during the summer of 2004.
Manchester United would come calling for Rooney, with the club and the player unable to turn down the £30m deal that would see the forward move to Old Trafford – a deal that would cement him in Premier League history.
1# Alan Shearer
260
2# Harry Kane
213
3# Wayne Rooney
208
4# Andy Cole
187
5# Sergio Aguero
184
His time in Manchester would see him become the league's third-top scorer of all-time, whilst making himself United's leading scorer, overtaking the record set by the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton.
The deal for Rooney was a huge one for such a young player, with the Red Devils taking a huge gamble splashing that amount of money on a teenager, but, how much would he be worth in a modern transfer market? We have the answer.
How much Wayne Rooney would be worth in 2024
It's coming up to 20 years since Sir Alex Ferguson splashed the cash on Rooney, with the deal proving to be a successful investment with his goals leading the club to 14 trophies during his time at Old Trafford.
Whilst it was a huge deal at the time, if Rooney had left Everton in 2024, that transfer would have been roughly worth an extraordinary £119m, according to a conversion tool from The Totally Money Transfer Index.
Whilst Lukaku still holds the club's record for the most expensive departure following his own move to Manchester, had Rooney made the switch in 2024, it would've blown the £75m deal for the Belgian out of the water, surpassing it by £44m.
Totally Money have taken the 100 most expensive transfers of all time across each season since 1992 in Europe's top five leagues. Armed with plenty of historical financial data they have calculated what footballers of yesteryear would be worth in the present day after taking into account the remarkable rate of inflation.
He was a huge hit during his short career at Goodison and whilst they made the right call to offload him given the huge fee, the Toffees must wish they had kept hold of Rooney, with his goalscoring exploits potentially allowing the Blues to reach the next level and return to their glory days of the past.
The same might well be true of Lukaku, with Dyche and co crying out for a prolific number nine, having scored just 39 goals this season in the league…
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ByAngus Sinclair May 13, 2024