David Moyes had to be convinced by Alan Irvine to sign a player for Everton who went on to make 420 appearances.
The summer transfer window proved to be one of the busiest in the Premier League era for Everton.
Nine new players landed on Merseyside, with Moyes forced into making a lot of changes to his squad in the market.
This was largely forced on Everton, given so many players left earlier in the summer at the end of their contracts.
Moyes was thrilled with Everton’s summer signings having added players of Jack Grealish’s calibre to the squad.
The Friedkin Group put their money where their mouth is this summer and the results are already showing their rewards.
However, assistant manager Irvine has admitted he has had to convince Moyes in the past to sign one player who went on to become an Everton great.
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David Moyes had to be convinced to sign Everton great Leighton Baines
After Moyes returned to the club, Leighton Baines was named a permanent coach at Everton, and has impressed in the months since.
Baines managed the FA Cup game following Sean Dyche’s sacking in January, with the 62-year-old manager keen to keep his former defender around.
Speaking to The Athletic, Irvine has admitted that he had to talk Moyes into the signing of Baines back in 2007.
“David would tell you, I actually forced him to sign Leighton (as a player),” said Irvine.
𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗲 & 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗰𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄
"He still has that drive & work ethic. He’s got great energy
“It’ll be 6.30 & 'can you have a look at these 2 players?’
"If you’re working with David, you don’t look at your watch!”https://t.co/XlZgCbB3JQ
— Patrick Boyland (@Paddy_Boyland) September 18, 2025
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“Joleon (Lescott) gave us an extra big one (at left-back), and he initially wasn’t sure about Leighton. I used to bang the drum for the small ones because I was a late developer.”
Jake O’Brien has been really impressed with Baines as a coach at Finch Farm since January.
But his record as a player for Everton is even more impressive having proven himself to be one of the modern goalscoring full-backs.
Irvine expects Baines to become a manager
After he landed back on Merseyside earlier in the year, Moyes tasked Baines to improve Mitaliy Mykolenko.
The former left-back is showing some real potential to become a top coach, with his methods already having an impact on James Garner.
Having helped out at left-back amid the injury issues, Garner has impressed a lot of people playing at left-back for the Blues.
After watching him in action at Finch Farm, Irvine has no doubt that Baines will go on to become a manager in the coming years.
“He’s already a very good coach and could become a manager one day,” Irvine added.
“He’s got good ideas about the game and he’s very well prepared for sessions. He has a good way about him in terms of delivering it, real attention to detail, which is important.”