Everton could well be the Premier League's dark horses this season.
David Moyes established a solid defensive structure in the second half of last term, the Toffees conceding the third-fewest goals (19) of any Premier League side after his return to Goodison Park in January, and has devoted the summer transfer window to injecting goal threat into his starting XI.
Highly-rated French striker Thierno Barry netted eleven times in La Liga for Villarreal last season, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored twelve goals from midfield in the Championship for Leicester City before a largely anonymous single season at Chelsea, and earlier this week Everton announced a season-long loan deal for Jack Grealish - possibly the Premier League's coup of the summer.
Grealish has spent the last few seasons in the wilderness at Manchester City. But if Moyes can reignite the 29-year-old's form from City's Champions-League winning 2022/23 treble season, or rekindle his enigmatic contributions to England's final-reaching Euro 2020 campaign, Everton will have arguably the division's most talented attacking midfielder outside the big six at their disposal.
Throw in Moyes' experience and shrewdness, and the Toffees have all the ingredients to enjoy their best campaign since finishing 8th under Marco Silva in 2018/19.
It would be the perfect way to launch themselves into a new era at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, and it's no coincidence that Everton's dealings in the transfer market this summer have coincided with the move from Goodison Park. Their business so far has been both an acknowledgment of previous under-investment in the first team, and a statement of ambition about the future.
Moyes clearly wants a team befitting of Everton's new, modern football ground, and the Grealish deal is the most prevalent evidence of that. But it also creates question marks ahead of the start of Everton's Premier League campaign this weekend. There are only so many places in the starting XI and it may well be Dwight McNeil who finds himself to be the biggest casualty of the ambition Everton and Moyes have shown this summer.
McNeil's Difficult 2025 So Far
Dwight McNeil in action for Everton
2025 has been a difficult year for McNeil after spending four months on the sidelines through injury and by his own admission, the coming campaign is a huge one for him. Now 26 years of age, we are past the point of discussing future potential and further development. During his debut season, McNeil won Everton's Young Player of the Year award, but he doesn't qualify for that anymore. In theory, McNeil is now at his peak, in terms of both ability and consistency, and has described himself as a 'senior' player within the camp.
"I definitely see this as a big season for me in terms of taking things on from last year. I think this is going to be a massive year for the whole club with the new stadium. We know with the gaffer where he wants the club to be. I want to be a part of that and it’s a massive season for me personally as I want to kick on. I’m turning 26 this year, so for me with where I want to go, I need to be pushing on and helping the team as much as I can."
This should be when McNeil finds himself a lock-in on the team sheet, but there are probably more doubts than ever over whether he's a regular starter for Everton. It doesn't help that in his absence last season, Moyes managed to transform Everton from a relegation-threatened mess into a solid Premier League side, ranking ninth for points from the 19 games in which the Scot was in charge last term.
"I see myself as a senior player now. Sometimes lads ask me for certain things, and it was not so long ago that it was me doing that."
McNeil returned for the run-in, but his only starts came against Ipswich and Southampton, when both clubs and Leicester City had already mathematically sealed their fates, making those games essentially dead rubbers. Pre-season hasn't been too kind on him either; after being used in an unfamiliar wing-back role as Moyes experimented with a back five against Bournemouth and West Ham, McNeil had to settle for substitute outings versus Manchester United and Roma.
"[Wing-Back] is a bit different than playing off the left and at the start of last season, I was playing more in the middle, which I really enjoyed. Playing on the right is a bit different, but I’m enjoying playing there as well as I just want to be on the pitch and helping the team out as much as I can."
McNeil is yet to start against a competitive opponent either as a left-winger or a central attacking midfielder, his two preferred roles, and Everton have now signed two players in Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall who predominantly occupy those positions. There are other permutations to consider; Moyes started McNeil twice on the right wing at the end of last season, leading to a goal against Ipswich and an assist against Southampton, while there's also the possibility for Dewsbury-Hall to play deeper against certain opponents, freeing up the No.10 spot that McNeil likes most.
Everton's Options in Attacking Midfield
Everton attacker Iliman Ndiaye
But Iliman Ndiaye feels like Everton's least droppable player, having found nine goals last season and continually demonstrated incidents of individual brilliance. It seems incredibly unlikely Moyes won't want him in the team somewhere. Then there's Everton's ongoing pursuit of Southampton wonderkid Tyler Dibling, another example of Moyes' daringness in the transfer market by targeting a player Saints once priced at £100m. His preferred role is on the right-hand side. Throw in January addition Charly Alcaraz, and wherever McNeil looks there are Moyes signings who are at best competition for places and at worst more superior options.
Of course, Everton fans will just be relieved to see a squad with options and depth. The first team has been thread-bare for some time now. There is clear scope for rotation too - if the Toffees are going to enjoy a breakout campaign, they will need to be tactically flexible against different opponents, some of which will suit McNeil much more than Everton's other attacking options. The same goes for Alcaraz, Dibling and Dewsbury-Hall; it's only Ndiaye who feels like a lock-in currently, as well as Grealish once he's fully up to speed.
Dwight McNeil's Premier League Career
Season
24/25
23/24
22/23
21/22
20/21
19/20
18/19
17/18
Nonetheless, it's a significant change in status for a player who started all but 13 Premier League games during his first two seasons at Everton, and featured in some capacity in all but three of them. It's also a precarious and unusual situation for one of the Premier League's most underrated attacking players since making his debut for Burnley at the end of the 2017/18 season. Since then, McNeil has provided 21 goals and 34 assists in 232 games, playing for clubs who concede control of possession to the opposition almost as a trademark, and been a guaranteed starter more or less throughout.
McNeil's made a career turning scraps into moments of brilliance; his Premier League highlights reel is as entertaining as any player's outside the big six. But he now finds himself at a crossroads. Can he rise above the competition, or will Moyes' ambitious recruitment suddenly drown him out?