Our Everton writers have their say on whether it should be considered a good or a bad Jaunuary transfer window
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 31: Everton Manager David Moyes watches on during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton at Amex Stadium on January 31, 2026 in Brighton, England. (Photo by Ben Peters/MB Media/Getty Images)
David Moyes watches on during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton at Amex Stadium on January 31, 2026
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(Image: Ben Peters/MB Media/Getty Images)
It wouldn't be Everton without some deadline day drama. After a quiet transfer window, the Blues left it late to sign Tyrique George on loan from Chelsea until the end of the season.
And they looked to set to wave goodbye to another winger, Dwight McNeil, only for his move to Crystal Palace to collapse - the human cost of which was laid bare by his partner.
McNeil will now remain part of an Everton squad now shorn of on-loan Manchester City star Jack Grealish through long-term injury - a devastating blow that led the club to bringing in England Under-21 international George.
But was that deal alone enough? Or where Blues bosses right to tread with a little bit of caution ahead of what will be another vitally important summer transfer window?
So, here, our Everton have their say on whether it was a good or a bad window for the club.
Joe Thomas
This is a tougher question than I thought it would be.
Look, Everton were never going to spend big this window and I think that was wise. This is a time of the year when bad decisions are easy to make.
I can see the sense in not signing a striker given the lack of options available, certainly once Callum Wilson became off limits, and I feel more comfortable on that front given Thierno Barry’s progress. Beto’s future may well be best left to the summer to sort - it would be great to see him hit a run of form but if he does not, I could see sense in his position being considered when the market is more favourable.
Securing the future of James Garner was a significant boost this month while the recall and retention of Harrison Armstrong is positive - he genuinely looks at home in the first-team squad and I am pleased to see him getting the chance to continue his exciting development at Everton as opposed to elsewhere.
I like the addition of Tyrique George and, should he impress and the Blues trigger the option to sign him, that core group of talented players aged 19-25 will be a formidable, exciting foundation for the club’s prospects.
George is essentially a replacement for Jack Grealish, however, so in terms of proven talent the team has been hit by his injury, the low point of the window.
What holds me back from being able to say I’m pleased with the window is the continued failure to address the right-back problem. The side looks so much more coherent with Nathan Patterson in it that, if his injury record is too troubling for the club to rely on, the upside of having a different specialist full back there whose body can be trusted is pretty clear.
I know January is a tough window to find value in, but I think a new right back could make up the millions his price tag is inflated by simply helping Everton win more prize money for finishing higher up the league. I also think this was a time that made sense to move in that position because any player would have six months to adapt to the Blues and, potentially, the Premier League.
They would then have the summer with the club, too, which I think is crucial - for me, Europe is the first priority for the season now, the second is giving the players whose integration the club is invested in - Adam Aznou, Merlin Rohl, Tyler Dibling, Armstrong, Barry, and George - the chance to do so knowing full well there is no threat of a relegation fight. That group could have included a promising right back.
Given the World Cup will make the summer transfer market tough too, I didn’t really see a downside in attempting to solve the right-back issue now.
Anyway - rant over. In one sense, Everton’s squad ends the month weaker than it started given, however exciting George is, the club has lost a treble winner in Grealish.
But given the return to fitness of so many players, Jarrad Branthwaite in particular, and surge in form of Barry, I can see why staying clear of a volatile market (right back aside) made sense.
Do I think the squad is more likely to challenge for Europe after January? Not necessarily - but I’m not sure that is the primary ambition for the club’s ownership.
Paul Wheelock
You may have seen on it social media - the table for the net spend by current Premier League clubs in the last five seasons.
Everton sit 18th with a net spend of £12m. Only two clubs are below them - Wolves (£8.6m) and those savvy sellers, Brighton & Hove Albion (-£2.4m). Manchester Untied are top with a whopping £674m.
It really does go to show the lack of investment in the Blues' first-team squad until the arrival of The Friedkin Group.
And it also serves as a reminder as to why the rebuild of the nine-time champions of England is not going to be a quick fix.
That said, this season does feel like an opportunity. If Everton can solve the issues they have encountered at home in recent months, and if they can keep up their remarkable away form, then a place in Europe is theirs for the taking, given just how tight the table is.
Therefore, should Blues bosses have pushed the boat out more in the January transfer window?
Perhaps.
Going into the window most Evertonians would have agreed that the two positions needing filling most were centre-forward and right-back.
The injury to Jack Grealish threw a spanner in the works and while it will be a tall order for Tyrique George to have as much influence as the Manchester City loanee, at least a replacement, with the sort of skillset the team has been lacking, namely pace, has been sought.
And, if we're being honest, rewind back to his evening to forget at the Stadium of Light, and few would have predicted the rapid development of Thierno Barry has made over the past five weeks. Four expertly-taken goals in six Premier League starts - two with his left foot, one with his right, and another with his head - demonstrates that David Moyes has been right to show patience with the £27m summer signing.
So buying a more experienced forward in the window just closed could have hampered the Frenchman's development.
No complaints there, then.
But at some point the Blues are going to have to sign a right-back. Jake O’Brien has done well in the position, given it's not the one he is most naturally at home at, and Nathan Patterson has shown glimpses lately that he could still carve out a career on Merseyside.
But Moyes' recent admission that the club has been looking for a right-back for a year now told supporters what they have known for longer than that.
It would have been good to have finally nailed down Seamus Coleman's long-term replacement in the winter window. But if a deal could not be done, it could not be done.
But, with the club's new-look off-the-field team now fully in place, there can be no excuses come the summer.