Dwight McNeil has spoken publicly for the first time since his transfer from Everton to Crystal Palace collapsed
Dwight McNeil has broken his silence by commenting in public for the first time since his transfer deadline day move from Everton to Crystal Palace collapsed.
McNeil, who joined the Blues from Burnley for £20million in July 2022, was set to sign on loan for the Eagles with an obligation to go to Selhurst Park in a permanent switch this summer for a similar fee in the final hours of the winter window, but the south London club did not complete the deal. The player’s partner Megan Sharpley took to social media to question the integrity of the football industry in the hours afterwards.
Writing on Instagram, she said: “Tonight, and the last 48 hours, have broken my heart to see how the football world you love so much can be so cruel to you. To have something promised to you, you have been dragged along an emotional rollercoaster, and to be toyed with until the final minute.
“To have four-and-a-half years of your life promised to you, travelling, medicals, agreements made…promises made. To have prepared to move your entire life, our lives 100 of miles away in the space of a few hours.
“For it to be torn away from you at the last second, with absolutely no explanation. Going from everything to radio silence, no phone call, no communication and be left, broken hearted with nothing but confusion, has hurt more than I can say.”
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Speaking in his pre-match press conference to preview Everton’s game at Fulham, their first subsequent fixture, David Moyes revealed that McNeil had been to see him a couple of times since but insisted “there’s no problem at all,” when it came to his own relationship with the player. The Glaswegian gaffer chose not to elaborate on the reasons for the deal not going through but remarked: “I can tell you 100% it was nothing to do with Everton Football Club that’s for sure.”
McNeil was left out of the Blues’ next two matchday squads against Fulham and Bournemouth but after being named as an unused substitute against Manchester United, he started the back-to-back wins over Newcastle United and Burnley. The Rochdale-born player had a hand in both Beto’s goal at St James’ Park and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s strike against the Clarets and having produced arguably his best performance of the season against his previous club, the 26-year-old was given a standing ovation from the home crowd at Hill Dickinson Stadium when he was substituted for Tyrique George in the 86th minute.
Now McNeil has taken to Instagram himself with what was just his 35th post on the social media platform to tell his 99,000 followers: “It’s been a while since being on here…. (crying laughing emoji) this season so far has been a different one, but it’s taught me some really positive lessons that I’m proud of.
“A thank-you to the fans for the reception last week, it’s something that will stay with me. Still got nine games to go, time to do everything we can to finish the season off strong. UTFT (Blue love heart emoji).”