The Everton boss is said to have transfer interest in a Celtic star.
He said a big summer awaited Everton - and now a £15m Celtic transfer raid could be factored into it.
David Moyes’ Toffees side are looking to strengthen their ranks ahead of the new Premier League season and have their sights set on Hoops right-back Alistair Johnston. Long-serving star Seamus Coleman has moved on and former Rangers full-back Nathan Patterson’s future in Merseyside is in doubt, sparking links to Johnston, who’s shone for Celtic since joining in January 2023.
Last term was wrecked by injury but his return towards the back end of their Premiership-winning campaign and World Cup displays with Canada showed his class. It’s believed Everton boss Moyes would be open to sanctioning a deal in the region of £15m but Celtic are under no pressure to sell.
Will Alistair Johnston leave Celtic for Everton?
Reporting from the Daily Record on a possible pricetag states: "The word from inside Parkhead is they neither need nor want to sell Johnston right now. There’s a Champions League qualifier on the horizon for a start and he will be needed big time. It’s also dubious whether Everton are going to get to the figure that would even make Celtic blink. Sources on Merseyside suggest David Moyes would be willing to go up to around £15m for the Canuck ace. That’s a hefty figure – but it still might not be enough. The Toffees taking a bite might trigger others to join the fight too."
Moyes spoke at the end of last season on how big a summer was in store at Everton after last term ended in average fashion, Merlin Rohl’s loan has been made permanent, Tyrique George has bolstered their flanks, and Hayden Hackney has arrived in midfield. Moyes said in late May: “We need a big summer again as a football club. We need to have a big summer where we can build on it.
“We’re showing it doesn’t take much. It just needs a couple of your better players to lose a little bit of form, and it can quickly change your results and how you do. Look, overall, I think we would all accept that we’ve had a pretty drama-free season. We’ve done a lot of really good things, and we’ve gone into the final month of the season, still competitive for the top end rather than the bottom end.
Alistair Johnston has been a top performer for Celtic.placeholder image
Alistair Johnston has been a top performer for Celtic. | Getty Images
What has David Moyes said on Everton?
“We’ve not got a relegation play-off game at the end of the season where we’re having to win one of the games to stay up. We’ve not got that situation. So, there are lots of good things but there’s a cloud hanging over me at the moment that I’m disappointed that we’ve not finished the last six games well enough.
“We’ve not played well enough or we’ve not got decisions that could have gone a long way to changing things because we’re only a couple of points from going into the last game saying if you win, you’re in a European spot. When I look back, our form, I’ll always look at that first, but a couple of decisions have certainly not helped us.”