Dwight McNeil had looked set for a transfer deadline day move to Crystal Palace, only for a move to break down amid confusion and 'radio silence' from Everton's Premier League rivals
Dwight McNeil during the Everton v Bournemouth Premier League Summer Series match at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, on July, 26, 2025
Dwight McNeil during the Everton v Bournemouth Premier League Summer Series match at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, on July, 26, 2025(Image: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Everton FC Official Photography Library/SmartFrame)
View 2 Images
If Dwight McNeil is given minutes on the pitch at Hill Dickinson Stadium - or even if he warms up as an unused substitute - expect him to be given support from most of the 52,000 supporters inside the ground. And there will probably be quite a few whose backing for the player will come with a sense of guilt.
Some of the criticism that has been directed at McNeil in recent days and weeks has verged on abuse. Mind you, that seems to be the norm on social media.
Ironically, that criticism might have played a part in the collapse of the proposed move to Crystal Palace. When the switch seemed imminent, were Palace spooked by the majority of comments - coming from users purporting to be Everton fans - that were, to put it mildly, highly critical of McNeil’s recent form? It seems unlikely but it is possible.
FOLLOW OUR EVERTON FC FACEBOOK PAGE!Latest EFC news and analysis from via the Liverpool Echo’s dedicated FB page
The heartfelt words of McNeil’s partner, Megan Sharpley, cannot have failed to stir sympathy for the 26-year-old player, no matter what your take on his ability and the fact that he earns fortunes playing football.
“The last 48 hours have broken my heart to see how the football world you love so much can be so cruel to you.”
There are different perceptions of cruelty, obviously. And on the face of it, being compelled to stay at a fantastic football club and earn an awful lot of money does not seem conspicuously cruel. Far from it.
But the mind is not governed by a pay packet. McNeil has been through a lot with his partner, helping Sharpley through the trauma and pain of a serious, urgent operation in late 2023.
And while his performances have not been great this season, the level of criticism he has had on social media has been quite intense.
It was particularly vitriolic after his efforts in the recent 1-1 home draw against Leeds United when a video clip of him not tracking back went viral. David Moyes hooked him at half-time and he was left on the bench for the draw at Brighton.
Dwight McNeil partakes in a lap of appreciation with partner Megan Sharpley after the Premier League match between Everton FC and Sheffield United at Goodison Park on May 11, 2024. Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Dwight McNeil with partner Megan Sharpley in 2024
View 2 Images
Only those close to McNeil will know if he is enduring mental stress, although there is no reason to doubt Sharpley’s assertion that the abandonment of the move to Palace caused him - and her - distress.
But whatever your take on the matter, the one thing that this episode brings into critical focus is the transfer window. Episodes such as this one underpin a strong argument for the transfer window to be scrapped.
In what other industry can you only move to another employer in a restricted spell of time? You can be held to a contract but that is it.
For transfers to depend on administrative formalities being completed within a matter of hours and minutes is ludicrous. Had a McNeil move to Palace been shelved over a relatively long period of time, it would not have had the ramifications it has had.
The thinking behind the transfer window system, introduced by FIFA in 2002-03, was that it would prevent clubs being destabilised during the season (apart from in January, of course).
But we all know that transfer business goes on every day of the year. And at times, the window system just seems like a gimmick. And for Sharpley and McNeil, it is a gimmick that has clearly had an emotional effect.
If there is a positive to take from it, perhaps this will provide McNeil with more motivation to prove his critics wrong. Let’s hope so.