Everton manager Ronald Koeman has set his sights on achieving Champions League football with the Toffees by the end of his third season in charge, while explaining that the ambition of the 'project' at Goodison Park was one of the things that prompted him to leave Southampton.
Koeman arrived on Merseyside in the summer a few months after Farhad Moshiri completed the first stage of his investment in Everton. The former Barcelona player brought a fresh perspectiveto Goodison and now has his eyes on elite European competition by 2018.
"Everton will fight for European football this season, but to beat the big clubs in the Premier League will be, I won't say impossible, but very difficult," Koeman explained to ex-Toffee Gary Lineker in the latest episode of BBC's Premier League Show.
"Next season we need to improve, we will get new signings and that makes the team stronger. Then in the third year, we need to be close to getting Champions League football," he added.
Koeman breathed new life into a stagnating team and Everton began the 2016/17 in fine form, remaining unbeaten until a surprise loss against Bournemouth in late September.
They team has encountered several poor result since but there is nothing to suggest it is anything more than a blip at this stage, with a home fixture against relegation threatened Swansea now the perfect way to bounce back after the international break.
"At the moment I think we are maybe 60% of the way through the whole project," he said.
That project, as well as feeling "really disappointed" with the contract offer on the table from Southampton, was the driving force behind Koeman's move from the south coast up to Everton in the north west.
"With Everton, I listened to the project and I thought okay, it's a good time to move on because it may be impossible to stay at that [high] level with Southampton," the 53-year-old explained.
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