Seamus Coleman has slammed Everton’s owners for a chaotic summer window.
Coleman bowed out from a 17-year spell on Merseyside at the end of last season, when David Moyes’ side narrowly missed out on a European qualification place.
The Blues’ recruitment plans descended into chaos as the new campaign began with The Friedkin Group pushing to sell homegrown midfielder Harrison Armstrong.
Although the 19-year-old remained at Hill Dickinson Stadium following fan backlash to the plans, more than £100 million was raised through deadline day player sales.
Iliman Ndiaye, Beto, Tim Iroegbunam and Nathan Patterson were offloaded while Adam Aznou was loaned out, leaving Vitalii Mykolenko as the sole left-back option.
A pursuit of Monaco and USA forward Folarin Balogun to replace Beto collapsed late in the window to saddle Moyes with only 18 outfield players and one striker.
Earlier this month, the Friedkins publicly confirmed their intention to sell Everton barely two years since they had succeeded Farhad Moshiri as owners.
Coleman, the club’s record Premier League appearance holder, admits he is perplexed at how his ex-employers allowed Moyes to be left with a threadbare squad.
“Listen, I’ve said it to you before, I live in the streets, and the fanbase of Everton are demanding, and they’re not going to sit still,” he told Sky’s The Overlap.
“In my early days at Everton, it was always like you were chasing something, whether it be Europe, or I used to be talking about I’d love to win an FA Cup or whatever.
“You get scarred that much from the relegation battles that you can fall into a place of: ‘Oh, I just want to be okay’.
“That’s not the right answer for the size of Everton Football Club.
“But it’s difficult, because the manager’s come in, and you see it from your side, I see it from mine, but he stabilised a group inside that was in a bad place.
“Then in the summer, who sells a striker before you get one in?
“We can all have frustrations, and the performances probably weren’t where they should be.
“But you can’t even take off your striker, who might be tired from running around, to replace him with another one, because you don’t have one.
“We’re talking about a Premier League-level club.
“I just don’t understand how that can happen. But the gaffer [Moyes] will work hard, he’ll get the job done and all the rest.
“I just think, from being stung so many times, I’m not saying this is right, but it’s nearly where my mindset has shifted to over the last few years.
“It’s like, I just want us to be okay, get a few more bodies in January, and then Europe would be great, and whatever happens from there is another thing.
“But we didn’t bring in loads of quality attacking players. Iliman Ndiaye left, wasn’t really replaced, and then Beto left and wasn’t really replaced.”