David Moyes believes Everton need ‘a big summer’ to bridge the European gap.
The Scot will round off his first full season back in the hot seat on Merseyside with a final day trip to Tottenham, who are looking to preserve their Premier League status.
But the Blues have only a top-half finish to play for in north London after a six-game winless run effectively killed off their outside bid for a continental qualification spot.
Last summer saw over £100 million spent at Hill Dickinson Stadium with several key additions that included Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and a loan deal for Jack Grealish.
Ahead of the transfer window reopening, Moyes has forecast that Everton will need a similarly productive period to ensure they can compete at the business end.
He said: “We need a big summer again as a football club.
“We need to have a big summer where we can build on it. We’re showing it doesn’t take much.
“It just needs a couple of your better players to lose a little bit of form, and it can quickly change your results and how you do.”
Everton are yet to take any action on the loans of Grealish and Chelsea’s Tyrique George, who will return to their respective parent clubs at the end of this month.
“We’ve got two players on loan, Tyrique and Jack,” added Moyes.
“Obviously, at the moment, they go back to their clubs and we’ll take it from there.
“As the summer goes on, we’ll decide on what path we’re going to take on both of them. We like Tyrique, obviously we like Jack a lot..
“We’ve not got an answer for you if you’re going to throw me a Jack Grealish question in a minute or two as well.
“We’ve enjoyed having Tyrique here, he’s been an excellent boy and he’s work rate and everything has been excellent, so we’re happy with him.”