Richarlison could be returning to Everton in a separate deal that takes to Iliman Ndiaye to Tottenham Hotspur while Jack Grealish could return
Richarlison, Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye are all part of deals Everton could do before the transfer window closes
Richarlison could return to Everton while Iliman Ndiaye could move in the opposite direction to Tottenham Hotspur
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Everton appear poised for a wild finale to a transfer window that has become engulfed in controversy.
The club pulled the plug on talks to sell teen starlet Harrison Armstrong after outrage among supporters over the prospect of his departure to Nottingham Forest. Talks had advanced before Everton fans protested in unison at Bournemouth, with CEO Angus Kinnear looking on.
The withdrawal from those talks will not prevent the club’s owners, the Friedkin Group, from serious reputational damage through the episode. What they do over the following days will come under heavy scrutiny as movement ramps up ahead of Tuesday’s transfer deadline.
The decision to end the sale of Armstrong could mark a temporary reprieve for the Blues, with Tottenham Hotspur expected to pivot towards star player Iliman Ndiaye after losing to Manchester City in the battle to sign Cody Gakpo from Liverpool.
The club has been clear throughout the year that it wishes to keep Ndiaye, who is under contract for a further three years. The Senegal international has rejected multiple new deals, however, and has expressed a desire to play Champions League football - something Spurs could not immediately offer, having finished 17th in the Premier League for the second successive season, but have spent hundreds of millions of pounds in pursuit of.
David Moyes has been stressing the need to keep Ndiaye since April and, on Friday, said: “The first thing I would say is I’m certainly not encouraging a bid, that’s for sure. I’m not encouraging that in a million years.”
On Sunday morning, The Athletic reported that a deal that saw Ndiaye move to north London and Everton fan favourite Richarlison move the other way was progressing. While the Brazilian remains loved on Merseyside and would improve the Blues' forward line, the player has been troubled by injuries in recent years.
Should that deal advance, Everton may try to further overcome the loss of Ndiaye’s influence by returning for Jack Grealish. The Blues have remained in contact with the player since he returned to Manchester City from his loan spell and have been closely monitoring his return from the injury that prematurely ended his first stint at the club.
Grealish featured in the Community Shield and City’s opening Premier League game but the expected arrival of Gakpo will push him further down the pecking order at the Etihad, providing Everton an opportunity to pounce.
The Blues are yet to sign a right-back - a longstanding issue that was labelled a priority at the start of the summer and which both manager Moyes and the club's CEO, Angus Kinnear, while appearing to have diverging opinions on other topics, have said is an important position to address.
A summer that has seen interest move through Guele Doue, Alistair Johnson, Timothy Castagne and Daniel Munoz could end with a return for Kenny Tete, who the club thought would sign last summer only for him to instead sign fresh terms with Fulham.
The future of several players within a first team squad Moyes believes is currently too small to challenge for Europe also remains uncertain.
Beto, Tim Iroegbunam, Nathan Patterson and Carlos Alcaraz have all entered the final year of their contracts and could be peripheral players this season, while Adam Aznou has not been named in either of Moyes’ first two Premier League squads.