The players that are in the pipeline as Everton work to get their summer transfer window started.
As frustrating as the summer transfer window has been for Everton fans so far, there’s a sense of a dam slowly starting to break. Sorely-needed new signings are coming, with at least one likely to be confirmed within hours.
Still, there is plenty of work to do. Everton lost 12 players to free agency this summer as they shed the ageing or simply unwanted remnants of the benighted Farhad Moshiri era, but new owners The Friedkin Group have yet to find ways to invest their money into building a squad which will be fit to grace the club’s shiny new Hill Dickinson Stadium.
There are at least five transfer deals firmly in the pipeline, however, many of which will get done before the end of the window. But will these signings be enough, or will David Moyes be left short of strength and depth come the start of September?
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
By the time that you read this, this deal may already be confirmed – Chelsea midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is set to move to Merseyside after a fee of up to £28m was agreed between Everton and his current employers, and a medical is expected to take place on Tuesday.
The attacking midfielder, who can play out wide if required, played little more than a supporting role during Chelsea’s renaissance under Enzo Maresca, for whom Dewsbury-Hall also played at Leicester City, and can as such fairly be described as an unproven quantity at the highest level. That makes this deal a moderate risky one, perhaps, although at a minimum the 26-year-old should prove to be a solid rotational option for Moyes.
Ultimately, Dewsbury-Hall made just two Premier League starts for Chelsea and never really looked like displacing the players ahead of him in the pecking order despite the fact that several of them are also now unwanted at Stamford Bridge and have either been transfer listed as sold. Everton will be hope that they prove Chelsea’s judgement of the midfielder’s abilities wrong.
Tyler Dibling
Everton are among a number of teams linked with young Southampton attacking midfielder Tyler Dibling, but appear to be the only one to have made a formal bid – they have had three offers turned down by the Saints, with the latest reportedly worth around £40m.
Southampton have made a counter-offer for a package worth £45m plus an additional £5m in add-ons, according to The Athletic, but it remains to be seen whether Everton are willing to gamble that much money on a teenager with evident talent but little experience and only the briefest of CVs.
Dibling may have earned rave reviews and a lot of attention around the turn of the year for some occasionally electrifying performances, but he has still only scored two goals at the top level. Everton now know what it will take to get a deal done, and it’s a question of whether they’re willing to invest that much in the future compared to the pressing needs of the present.
Jack Grealish
Given the financial hangover left behind by the Moshiri years and reports that Everton pulled out of the bidding for Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo because he was deemed too expensive, one can only presume that Everton won’t sign both Dibling and Jack Grealish in the same window. That leaves their transfer team with a dilemma – whether to invest in the present or in the future.
Given that the stories surrounding Grealish’s potential move to the Hill Dickinson Stadium seem to have slowed down just as Everton get involved in negotiations for Dibling, it seems as though they have made a decision, and based on Grealish’s declining returns over the past two seasons, it may be a wise (if risky) one.
Grealish, of course, is an exceptional player at his best and if he got close to the level he exhibited at Aston Villa or during Manchester City’s treble-winning season, he would be Everton’s best player by far, perhaps one of the best they have had in the Premier League era. Still, it’s unlikely that they sign both Dibling and Grealish. For now, the England international seems to be the Plan B, and his enormous wages may make even that plan untenable.
James Justin
Full-back is another area of serious concern, with only Nathan Patterson and the ageing Seamus Coleman left on the books - and the eleventh-hour collapse of a deal for Fulham’s Kenny Tete has left Everton in limbo as they go searching for a starter down the right side of the back line.
Everton are rivalling Leeds United for £6m-rated Leicester full-back James Justin, according to some media reports, and the former England international would represent a respectable budget option given that he has just one year left on his current contract with the Foxes.
Justin is still just 27 years old and while far from Everton’s first choice (they also showed interest in Kyle Walker-Peters before he went to West Ham) he may be the best option available as it stands. Should they lose out to Leeds or another club, however, the search for a right-back could descend into a desperate scramble.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Another player who could fill the hole at right-back while also offering some experience and solidity in midfield is current Lyon and former Arsenal utility man Ainsley Maitland-Niles, according to Sky Sports reporter Mark McAdam and others.
Lyon are being forced to sell a number of players due to extensive debts which had become so problematic that the French authorities briefly relegated the club to Ligue 2 before they were reinstated to Ligue 1 on appeal – and that means that Maitland-Niles could be available at a knock-down price.
The fact that he could cover multiple positions of need makes a deal more appealing, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Everton pursue it – but reports don’t imply that a formal offer has yet been made. Young Almería midfielder Diego Lopy is also an option, but his Spanish side are holding out for a hefty fee and as it stands that deal looks unlikely to get done. Nottingham Forest seem set to win the race for Douglas Luiz, which Everton were involved in to some degree as well.
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