Everton: Seamus Coleman says Toffees must spend big in summer if they can clinch a Europa League spot

Marco Silva’s side pulled closer to a European place with a 2-0 win at West Ham

Seamus Coleman wants Everton to spend big in the summer if they make it back into Europe after the club strolled to a 2-0 victory against West Ham on Saturday.

Everton featured in the Europa League last term in a turbulent campaign featuring three managers, while now just two points separate five clubs in the hunt for seventh position.

Current boss Marco Silva has often found it hard to get the Toffees motoring this season, but they were certainly worthy winners against the Hammers.

Majority owner Farhad Moshiri has spent around £300m since buying into the club in February 2016. No new signings were added in January however but captain Coleman is hopeful the prospect of European nights could prompt a change of policy.

“If we did get into Europe, I think that would change the plans for the manager and the owner,” he said. “You might need a few more players because it is quite demanding.

“It would be massive. At the start of the season we knew breaking into the top six would be difficult but we wanted to get that seventh place.

“Everton should be in Europe every season. We’ve finally got the financial backing that maybe we’ve been missing for quite a period of time.”

Toffees fans would be delighted if the spending started by making loan arrangements for Andre Gomes and Kurt Zouma permanent. Gomes ran the show in midfield after defender Zouma headed the Toffees ahead early on.

“It’s the owner and the manager’s decision but it would be great to hold on to the players we’ve got on loan,” Coleman added.

“They’ve been great and their performances at certain points have been brilliant. If we were able to keep them that would be fantastic.”

Kurt Zouma celebrates his early goal (Action Images via Reuters)

France defender Zouma is surplus to requirements at Chelsea, while Gomes will always find it hard to get game time at Barcelona.

Republic of Ireland defender Coleman set up Bernard for a tap-in for the second goal and West Ham were lucky to get away with conceding just the two.

The Hammers had a collective off day that saw them booed off at half time. Striker Marco Arnautovic was also barracked when he was substituted in the second half - the legacy of his desire to decamp to the Chinese Premier League in January.

The Austrian had a change of heart but will remain unforgiven by many Hammers fans until he reproduces earlier stellar form in claret and blue.

Andre Gomes impressed against West Ham (Getty) (Action Plus via Getty Images)

Arnautovic, a combustible character at the best of times, was seen to throw bottle down in disgust on the bench before exchanging angry words with at least one fan.

Aaron Cresswell, stand-in captain for this rudderless performance, said: “We need him in form, of course. Marko is a fantastic player.

“There is no beating around the bush about that. He is certainly fantastic and hopefully we can get him back to his best. We have to go back to the drawing board now.”