Everton have made plenty of high-profile transfer blunders in the last few years.
However, James Tarkowski was not one of them.
Drafted in on a free transfer under Frank Lampard’s misguided leadership, the defender struggled to steady an already-sinking ship with seemingly no direction, but was one of many revitalised by Sean Dyche’s appointment.
Scoring the first goal of this new era at Goodison Park, they have never looked back, with the former Burnley defender a key cog in how the club now play.
James Tarkowski praises the Everton squad
Speaking to the Liverpool ECHO, the 31-year-old opened up on his immense fitness which has seen him become a true mainstay for Everton.
Across the last two campaigns, he has featured in every single Premier League game, playing every minute of the 2022/23 season too, the only outfield player in the entire division to do so.
However, he owes this longevity and the renewed fitness of the squad to Dyche, noting: ‘I want to play as many games as I can. You hear a lot of people say that your career is short so if that’s the case, let’s try and get as many games as you can while you can do.
‘I try and look after myself as best as I can and, touch wood, I’ve maybe been a bit fortunate with injuries and not got the ones that some lads get but I just want to keep playing. Every opportunity I get, I just want to go out on the pitch and play.
‘I don’t know the exact stats on it (fitness) but I imagine we’re right up there in terms of distance covered and high-speed sprints because most teams we play against, we out-run them.
‘That’s what we need to be like and that’s what we expect of ourselves and every time we’ve gone out on the pitch and performed with those stats, we’ve usually got a result at the end of it.’
James Tarkowski embodies everything good about Everton
It is not an unruly statement to claim that Tarkowski is one of Everton’s greatest pieces of business since the turn of the century.
After all, to acquire such leadership, stability, strength and quality for no transfer fee, in a market where increasingly bloated prices are being touted, is remarkable.
Lampard may not have been able to coach the squad to success, but few can argue with this talent identification.
Sitting beside Jarrad Branthwaite, Tarkowski is the rock from which the club’s successes are built.
He is impenetrable at the back, and as such starred as Everton conceded the fourth-least goals in the Premier League whilst keeping the second-most clean sheets.
A flawless centre-back who seldom lets his team down, the Toffees are so lucky to have Tarkowski, and the fans are well aware.