Wayne Rooney has told Everton must change their mindset to challenge the Premier League’s best.
This season saw the Blues heading into the new campaign hailed as the ‘best of the rest’ after finishing in seventh place, just shy of the league’s higher reaches.
But a strong summer transfer window failed to lead to any sustained challenge, with 14 points currently separating them from sixth-placed Arsenal.
Early exits in the Europa League and both domestic cup competitions ultimately led to Ronald Koeman’s departure as manager at the end of October.
And Rooney insists that Everton’s long-term aspiration of being among the top teams can only be realised with a different approach.
“We need to change the mindset at Everton,” he told the Telegraph.
“Yes, seventh is a position we can finish in this season. That is respectable.
“But to finish above the top six at the moment we are going to have to have one of our best seasons and one of those must have a bad season.
“We have to change it. We don’t want to going into a season saying, ‘We want to finish seventh because it is going to be difficult to break into the top six.
“We are bringing players in because we want to break into the top four.
“Everton is a big football club and that is where the ambition has to be. Over the next few years, that ambition will start to change with the right personnel coming in.
“Hopefully I can have some influence in helping the club to do that.”