At the end of June, Donegal-born Seamus Coleman signed up a one-year contract extension with Everton Football Club.
It is a development that means Coleman takes his stay with Everton into a 15th year after joining the club in 2009. With the veteran right-back turning 35 in October, the chances of this being Coleman’s final season in the Premier League are high.
A season of familiar toil ahead for Everton
Admittedly, Coleman’s swansong in the Premier League isn’t likely to be a glamourous one with a backs-to-the-wall affair instead predicted as Everton are priced at just 3/1 to go down in the latest outright football odds for top-flight relegation.
Anyone who has watched Everton over the last two years will know that the club has circled the drain of relegation only to cling to safety at the very end of the season.
Official: Seamus Coleman has signed a new one-year deal at Everton to extend his stay at Goodison Park to 15 years. 🔵🤝🏻 #EFC pic.twitter.com/xwJKUaw7Bi
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 29, 2023
Had the Toffees not been able to call on Coleman’s leadership and tenacity in the face of potential relegation over the last 24 months then it seems a certainty that the club would be plying their trade in the Championship by now.
Cometh the hour, Cometh Coleman
Quite simply, Coleman’s outright refusal to see the club he loves relegated has been the difference; a crucial solo goal against relegated Leeds in February is one of many examples of Coleman single-handedly managing to help Everton avert the financial disaster that going down brings with it. After all, relegation would have cost Everton a hundred million pounds at first with that number rising sharply with every season the club spent out of the top flight.
The fact that Coleman was more or less able to secure Everton’s future by himself is even more remarkable when you consider that the club bought him for just £60,000 back in 2009 when they signed the right-back from Sligo Rovers in the west of Ireland. This is an investment that is still paying dividends a decade and a half later.
The unprecedented return on investment
What does £60,000 get you in the Premier League these days? The answer is nothing. It certainly doesn’t buy you a player who has made 352 appearances in the world’s most competitive league. If you were to average Coleman’s 2009 transfer fee against all of his Premier League appearances to date, it would work out to £170 a game. Of course, Coleman earns a substantial weekly salary but there isn’t a signing in Premier League history that offers the staggering return on transfer investment that Coleman does.
To that end, Coleman has given the club more than they could have ever expected from a player with such a meagre transfer fee. The Irishman’s hefty contributions have been consistently recognised throughout his 15 years at Goodison Park with the 34-year-old winning every club honour on offer.
🔵 386 appearances
⚽️ 27 goals
📆 13 years a Blue
© 4 seasons as captain
🤩 60 grandHappy Birthday to our skipper, Seamus Coleman! 💙 pic.twitter.com/YywnqnU1Ez
— Everton (@Everton) October 11, 2022
Coleman received the Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year awards in 2014. At the end of the 2022/2023 season, Coleman completed the sweep by winning the Goal of the Year award for his aforementioned strike against Leeds in a relegation six-pointer.
Coleman’s career statistics are scarcely believable and with Premier League expenditure at £1.2 billion and counting during the 2023 summer transfer window, it’s safe to say that the world won’t ever see value like this again. Without a doubt, the man from Donegal is the Premier League’s all-time bargain buy.
