Ratcliffe impressed with proactive Everton

Everton legend Kevin Ratcliffe has hailed manager Ronald Koeman for hitting the January sales early after the capture of Morgan Schneiderlin.

The Toffees splashed £24m on the midfielder from Manchester United and he could make his debut against Manchester City this weekend, in what would be his first Premier League start of the season after he struggled to impress new United boss Jose Mourinho.

Koeman has been busy, also adding young striker Ademola Lookman from Charlton while they are believed to be close to a deal for striker Ishak Belfodil.

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And Ratcliffe, who played 348 times for the club between 1980-92, says it has given his side a huge advantage over their rivals as they push for European football next season.

“Do those three players get you off your seat? I’m not sure,” Ratcliffe said. “But it’s nice to know we have started early.

“It means we have two weeks to integrate them before the window closes.

“While other teams will be scrambling around towards the end of the window, we have players that we have used and integrated already.

“It’s nice to do business early, and get them for a couple of weeks before others have.”