Everton manager David Moyes wants the Toffees hierarchy to spend big and help bring regular Champions League football to Goodison Park.The Toffees currently lie in the coveted fourth Premier League spot, which brings with it Champions League qualification.
Now Moyes has set his sights on qualifying for the competition on a regular basis and he wants the club's directors to help him build by making funds available.
His comments come after the club did not spend as heavily as their rivals for Europe in the recent January transfer window, with only Manuel Fernandes and Anthony Gardner brought in to the first-team squad.
Moyes told The Guardian: "It would be unforgivable if it fell apart now.
"We cannot slip away now and if we want to challenge then we have to be in there (signing top players). I am not going to give up, I am going to keep challenging the clubs around us and above us.
"We are coming to a stage now at Everton where we need to decide what we are going to go and challenge if we can, although spending loads of cash doesn't guarantee anything.
"We have seen some clubs spending millions this season to try and be champions and it has not worked for them, but I think you can see that the better players tend to cost more money," he said, adding record £11 million signing Aiyegbeni Yakubu has shown that.
"He has come up with the goals for us.
"I have to keep forcing the issue and keep advising the club in what I think is the right way to go. When I came here I had a five-year plan for us to be better at Everton.
"I have now got a plan for the next five years that would see us become a regular Champions League club."
Clubs such as Manchester City and Aston Villa have intensified the fight for Champions League qualification, but Moyes believes in the support he receives from Everton chairman Bill Kenwright.
He added: "All those clubs around us will catch up if we don't stay ahead of the game.
"What some clubs are doing now is not necessarily putting foundations in place but spending to get a quicker result. The next stage for us is to raise our level and the standard of player and that has cost implications, but I am confident in Bill. You would have to compliment him on how he has moved this club on."
As well as spending to attract top players, Moyes also wants Everton to be competing with the better teams in the scouting arena.
He said: "I see myself as being here for another five years. This is a crucial time but the most crucial thing is the first team keep playing well. That's my job and the other parts are down to the board.
"I want a scouting system as good as Manchester United's and Arsenal's. The plan for me does not just include money for first-team players, it is how we make Everton bigger and better."
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