Carlo Ancelotti will be given funds to strengthen Everton this summer

Carlo Ancelotti has been assured Everton will spend this summer but the manager says the “character and personality” of his squad must also change to compete at the top end of the Premier League.

Ancelotti, his backroom team, players and senior staff have agreed wage deferrals as the club deals with the financial impact of Covid-19. Everton also posted a record loss of £111.9m in their accounts for 2018-19 and would risk breaching financial fair play (FFP) rules with another year of substantial losses.

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The team’s need for improvement was again laid bare in defeat at Tottenham on Monday – they have also lost at Liverpool, twice, Manchester City, Leicester, Chelsea and Arsenal this season – and, despite the financial uncertainty throughout football, Ancelotti insisted he can strengthen.

“I have assurances from the board that we are going to improve the squad,” he said. Asked whether he must sell to buy, he replied: “No.”

Ancelotti has been linked with a host of his former players, including James Rodríguez, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani and Adrien Rabiot. The club have made progress in the pursuit of the Lille defender Gabriel Magalhães.

“We need good players and the players that we are going to sign will be good players,” Ancelotti said. “It doesn’t matter whether they are young or old; with experience or without experience. It is important to have good players. The names that have been mentioned are the same names that were mentioned one year ago when I was in Napoli. They follow me!

“James Rodríguez? I like him a lot as a player. When I left Madrid, James Rodríguez followed me to Munich. But he followed me as a rumour to Napoli and now he is following me to Everton as a rumour. I have to be honest – I like him a lot. But he is a Real Madrid player and I think he will still be a Real Madrid player.”

Ancelotti believes Everton’s squad can be upgraded “without a lot of changes”, provided the mentality improves of existing players. “It is important to improve the character and personality of the team,” he said. “I can improve their knowledge on the training ground day by day but the mentality of the squad can also improve to compete better with the top-six teams in the Premier League.”