Everton have reportedly held talks with PSV Sporting Director Marcel Brands over joining the club this summer.

What's the story?

According the Liverpool Echo, Everton Director of Football Steve Walsh is under threat, and the club have lined up PSV’s Marcel Brands as his replacement.

Walsh has taken some considerable flak this season after a massive spending spree last summer. Everton spent big money on several signings, and their fans hoped it could kick-start their attempts to challenge the “big six”.

Only Gylfi Sigurdsson has even come close to justifying his transfer to Goodison, and signings like Nikola Vlasic and Sandro Ramirez have hardly even played. The club is desperately short of quality options up front and is still lacking a leader at the back.

The Echo reports that the club have held “exploratory” talks with Brands, but Chelsea are also interested in the 55 year-old.

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Who is Marcel Brands?

Brands played in the Netherlands for 17 years, and became technical director at RKC Waalwijk upon retirement. After steadily improving the club, he moved on to AZ Alkmaar in 2005, where he toppled the normal order of Dutch football by winning the Eredivisie title in 2008/09 with Louis van Gaal at the helm.

Mousa Dembélé is perhaps Brands’ most notable success story at AZ Alkmaar, making 118 league appearances for the club before moving to England in 2010.

Brands was brought to PSV in 2010, and has received widespread acclaim for his transfer dealings at the club. Players like Gini Wijnaldum, Kevin Strootman and Dries Mertens were all bought, developed, and moved along for big profits with Brands in charge.

The Dutchman is also known for his impressive work with the PSV academy, uncovering gems like Memphis Depay before selling them for massive profits.

Of course, the Everton fans would not want to sell their best players, so the expectations may be slightly different for the Dutchman in the Premier League. However, his eye for talent and knowledge of European football could make a massive difference with the backing of Farhad Moshiri.

Everton fans, would you like to see Brands replace Walsh? Let us know in the comments below…