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the potentially exciting reason Marcel Brands was not present as Everton announced the arrival of Rafa Benitez on Wednesday.
After much debate, Benitez was unveiled as the Toffees’ new manager. It is obviously a controversial appointment.
It is likely to have been a call that took a long time for the Everton decision-makers to deliberate.
Reports previously claimed that Brands was concerned about the Toffees turning to the Spaniard. According to the Daily Mirror, Benitez has tended to have mixed feelings about working with a director of football.
So some may have been alerted to Brands not appearing in the images showing Benitez in his new surroundings at Finch Farm.
But the reason for his absence has now been disclosed. And it has little to do with Benitez’s arrival.
, Brands is currently in quarantine. He has only recently returned from The Netherlands.
And encouragingly, the reason for his trip was to make enquiries about a transfer target.
Can Everton fans be excited about Brands’ absence for Benitez unveiling?
Of course, Brands probably disappears on scouting missions regularly.
But the idea that he is now quarantining off the back of one trip perhaps hints that there may be something for Everton supporters to be hopeful about.
He can likely still do his job while quarantining. But it is surely not as convenient.
So perhaps he was looking at a serious target.
He would have surely decided against making such a trip had he been making tentative enquiries – particularly in the current climate.
Obviously, there is nothing to say the trip was a success. But the fact he did go hints Everton were more than a little interested.