Everton manager Roberto Martinez observes his side during their Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. Toby Melville / Reuters / August 29, 2015
Everton manager Roberto Martinez observes his side during their Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. Toby Melville / Reuters / August 29, 2015

Everton’s Roberto Martinez pleased with ‘huge calibre of players’ brought in and held on to



Manager Roberto Martinez is pleased with Everton's business in the transfer window and said the Premier League club have ensured they will maintain continuity at St James' Park.

The team brought in seven players, including the deadline-day signings of centre-half Ramiro Funes Mori from River Plate and Aaron Lennon from Tottenham Hotspur.

They also signed Tom Cleverly, Gerard Deulofeu, David Henen, Mason Holgate and Leandro Rodriguez, but probably the club’s best piece of business was resisting three bids from Chelsea for England defender John Stones.

Martinez had declared his intention to sign another striker but the club were left frustrated in their attempts to bring in Andriy Yarmolenko from current Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kiev, according to British media reports.

Read more: Ian Hawkey on the pricey baggage the pacey Anthony Martial must carry at Manchester United

However, the manager said he was happy with the players at his disposal and stressed the importance of being able to hold on to his key performers.

“I feel really pleased about the way in which our business during this transfer window will allow us to carry on with the continuity in our squad and develop some of our young talent while adding some outstanding characters,” the Spaniard told the club website.

“Keeping the main performers of the team that attempted that fourth-place finish in the Premier League two seasons ago and shared in some incredible memories in Europe last season will help us to integrate all of our new signings and to carry on reaching better levels of performance on a consistent basis.

“Four full senior internationals for England, Argentina and Spain reflect the huge calibre of players we have been able to bring in, with some of those – Gerard Deulofeu and Aaron Lennon – already knowing our dressing room and our home,” Martinez added.

“They represent a guarantee in terms of settling in well to our club and adding to our squad.”

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