David Moyes sends defiant new transfer message as Everton hope to seal major deal

David Moyes sends defiant new transfer message as Everton hope to seal major deal

David Moyes spoke to reporters ahead of Everton's final Premier League Summer Series game against Manchester United at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium

David Moyes, Manager of Everton, looks on during the pre-season friendly match between Accrington Stanley and Everton at Wham Stadium on July 15. Photo by Ben Roberts - Danehouse/Getty Images

After bemoaning Everton’s lack of new signings throughout their time in the USA, David Moyes adopted a more optimistic tone on transfers ahead of his side’s final Premier League Summer Series fixture while also revealing he was returning to the scene of where he met rapper Snoop Dogg.

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Ever since the start of the tour, the Blues boss has been vocal about there being fewer signings than he would have expected at this stage of the window and insisting that his squad needed to bring in “nine or 10” new players for the 2025/26 season. Having crossed the Atlantic Ocean with Charly Alcaraz, Thierno Barry and Mark Travers as fresh recruits, Moyes has subsequently added teenage Bayern Munich left-back Adam Aznou to the ranks with the Morocco international joining up with his colleagues at training in Atlanta.

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Having thrown away a lead to lose 2-1 to his previous employers West Ham United in their previous game at Chicago’s Soldier Field on Wednesday, Moyes now faces another of his old teams, Manchester United in the tournament’s final match at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Although the 62-year-old reiterated his concerns about more recruits not having been made, for the first time Moyes has suggested there is light at the end of the tunnel.

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He said: “There are lots of conversations taking place. There are loads we’re working on as we try to see where we’re going with some deals we’re trying to work through.

“I’m not going to shout out names because there are that many names being brought up at the moment, you wouldn’t know where to start. We’re trying to go about our business and improve the group of players we have.

“We will need to get a stronger squad, I’ve said it and there’s no doubt about it. But I’m confident we will do, I really am.

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“I’m confident we will have quite a few new players in. The bedding in period that we alluded to last week is worrying me because time is shortening down, but I’m really positive that we’ll get quite a few new players in before the window shuts.”

With chief executive Angus Kinnear – who flew out to New York City at the start of the trip –having now returned to the UK as planned, the ECHO understands Everton are hoping to seal at least one major deal over the next week but any potential move for Manchester City’s out-of-favour £100million star Jack Grealish will have to wait until the Blues have taken care of what they consider to be necessary business.

Given that on-loan duo Jack Harrison and Jesper Lindstrom have returned to their respective parent clubs Leeds United – who Everton face in their first Premier League game of the season – and Napoli respectively, Moyes acknowledges that a player who can operate on the right wing has been top of his list throughout the window but he admits he is dealing with a tough market.

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He said: “It’s been a priority (right wing) all summer. Probably of all the positions, having a right-sided player is what we wanted. I’d have liked that first through the door if that was possible, but we’ve tried to get a few and not quite got them over the line.

“I think the transfer windows for years have been quite difficult. I think this is a completely one-off situation.

“There are a lot of clubs changing players around right now, but we’ve got a bigger situation with a big changeover of everybody from the CEO, we’ve got new owners, we’re putting all that together and then coming round with our recruitment team, so all those parts haven’t helped it really. But, we’re moving in the right direction, and we’ll continue to try and do the right things.”

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After two defeats in this competition so far, Moyes is determined to put on a good show against Ruben Amorim’s side, who have won both of their matches. Everton drew 2-2 with Manchester United in their last meeting at Goodison Park, squandering a 2-0 half-time lead before being denied a stoppage time penalty in controversial circumstances after the decision was overturned following a VAR check.

The Scot said: “We’re hoping for a reaction against Manchester United. We’re looking to play a bit better than we’ve done.

“We had a good couple of games against United last year and I certainly had one game against them which was a really good game. We played well and probably should have done it at the end.

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“We’re in a different stage at the moment. We’re preparing, so it’s not quite the same.

“We’ve come here with a really small squad. We can change one or two players around, but we don’t have huge numbers and that makes it quite difficult for us to make too many changes.

“We have to accept that we have to start building and almost start again from the beginning. I think the excitement of how we finished last year, you’ve got to remember we finished above United, we finished above West Ham, we finished above Tottenham.

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“We’ve not forgotten that and we’ve not lost the thought of that, but we knew it was a difficult summer with the amount of players who were coming to the end of their contract or people leaving.

“It’s just taken us a little bit more time than I’d have thought and I thought we’d have been a little bit further down the line than we are, but we all know we’ve got a new stadium to go into and we’re excited for that. We’re looking forward to it, but we also want to give the supporters something to shout about.

“We want to go to the new stadium knowing that we’re going to have a side that are going to be competitive.”

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Moyes is unsure over how much he should be reading into these games, but he knows that with their move to Hill Dickinson Stadium, Evertonians are looking forward to a brand new dawn after some of the most traumatic seasons in the club’s history. He said: “I don’t think any of the teams coming here are tactically really concerned. We’re trying to get the players a game, but you want to try and start to implement things.

“You don’t want to waste a week and a half of your pre-season, not doing anything, so all the clubs will be trying to do parts, us included, but I think the conditions training times, pitches and facilities all play their part in finding out if you can get your best work done. We’ve done what we think we can, we’d have liked to have done more, but we’ll have to wait until we get back.

“We see ourselves coming out of a bad situation at the club. I think all Evertonians are looking to the future now, they don’t want to look back in the past.

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“We want to believe there’s something better ahead of us and I think it will be better ahead of us. I think there’s going to be teething, whether it’s the stadium, new owners or all sorts of things.

“But I’m really positive about the opportunity that we have to move. It’s something that all the Evertonians in Liverpool have been waiting upon for a long time.

“We’ll pack it out every week, which we do. My job now is to give them a team now to enjoy coming to watch as well.”

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Unlike the MetLife Stadium and Soldier Field where Everton played their first two games, which are both open to the elements, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which opened in 2017, has a retractable roof and a powerful air conditioning system. Moyes told reporters that he attended Super Bowl LIII at the venue in 2019 as the New England Patriots defeated Los Angeles Rams 13-3 and he went to an event ahead of the game and rapper Snoop Dogg, who is also a football fan and last month became a co-owner and investor of Championship side Swansea City, was there.

He said: “We’ve been talking about moving to a new stadium, which we’re hugely excited about. The fact is that the modern player gets to play in some amazing stadiums in every part of the world and huge crowds.

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“I’ve not played here, but I’ve been to the Super Bowl here and it’s an amazing stadium, an incredible stadium. I actually hope that this stadium had a good right to perhaps host the final of the World Cup possibly, given how good the stadium was, but maybe they can get the numbers elsewhere.

“But, I’ve been here once before and I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to it now and I’m hoping the players are as well.

“We’re enjoying being in Atlanta. It’s been our base for most of the time here and everybody has been very welcoming.

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“We’ve enjoyed the warm weather in the main, but some days it’s just been too hot for us.”

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