Everton are reportedly exploring a move to sign James Ward-Prowse, who has been frozen out at West Ham United ever since the arrival of Nuno Espirito Santo.
The Toffees are making a habit of offering transfer lifelines, having welcomed Jack Grealish on loan from Manchester City in the summer and since been linked with Manchester United's Joshua Zirkzee.
Their decision to sign Grealish on loan in the summer has so far gone as well as they could have wished. The Premier League winner has been back to his very best form for the most part and is likely to play a crucial part in the outcome of Everton's season.
Full of praise for his summer arrival, Everton boss David Moyes recently told talkSPORT: "Jack’s been really good. He’s helped us maintain the ball more, we’re up on numbers in terms of possession.
“His goals have been huge, I’m sort of driving home to him that it’s good being an assist maker but it’s even better being a goalscorer. He’s given us a real strength in how he plays.
"He and Iliman Ndiaye have played really, really well and probably changed the way we are, we wanted to evolve and become better and both those players give us that opportunity.
"He’s an incredible character, loves his football, watches and listens, which a lot of the modern players don’t so much, but Jack loves his football and Tuchel’s got a really difficult job [picking the squad]."
With Zirkzee already linked with a similar move from Man United and now Ward-Prowse emerging as a target, 2026 could be all about the revival of impressive players in Merseyside.
Everton now exploring Ward-Prowse move
As reported by TeamTalk's Dean Jones, Everton are now exploring a move to sign Ward-Prowse in January. The midfielder has been given the cold shoulder by Nuno ever since the manager arrived at West Ham and is now almost "certain" to move on from the London club.
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A reunion with Moyes could, therefore, be on the cards. Ward-Prowse played 51 games under the Scot during their time together at West Ham, scoring seven goals and assisting another 11 in an impressive run. Now frozen out in London, his former manager could hand him a much-needed lifeline.
It's easy to forget the quality that the former Southampton star can offer these days, but it's worth remembering that Ward-Prowse is only one free-kick goal away from equalling David Beckham's Premier League record of 18 direct goals. That's the unique quality that he could offer Everton, who would suddenly take their set-pieces to a whole new level.
Moyes knows all about Ward-Prowse's specialty, having been full of praise for the midfielder at West Ham - telling reporters in 2023: "We could have scored four or five from corner kicks.
"We've been a decent side from set pieces, maybe without the word "specialist", but I think we've got a specialist now in Ward-Prowse. He's contributing to us and our results at the moment."
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