Everton have been a regular in the news over the past season due to several reasons, one of which being their move from Goodison Park to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Another key talking point came back in December when the Friedkin Group bought a majority stake in the club, who also own a majority stake in Serie A side, Roma.
And who can forget when David Moyes returned to the club in January following Sean Dyche’s departure.
However, one issue that hasn’t brought much attention has been Everton’s squad, with six players running out of contract at the end of the 2024/25 season, and four others returning to their clubs after spending the season on loan at the Toffees.
The new ownership group will have to invest money into the team this summer to give Moyes the resources to build upon what he was able to achieve with the club at the end of the season, as they finished 13th.
Ben Humphris, a journalist and a lifelong Evertonian, believes that it is time for the club to act.
He said: ” We’ve got a very thin squad at the moment, so Everton fans feel this is the big window.”
Since the turn of the new decade, the only transfer Everton have completed over £30 million was a deal for Amadou Onana, who joined from Lille, but he has since moved on to Aston Villa.
In that time, Everton have also seen Anthony Gordon and Richarlison depart the club for big sums of money.
Everton have been linked to a few players so far this window across a number of positions, whilst they also completed a move for Carlos Alcaraz from Flamengo.
One player that has been the talk of the transfer window so far is Liverpool’s scottish winger, Ben Doak.
The last direct transfer between the two Merseyside clubs stretches back over 20 years, when Abel Xavier swapped Blue for Red in 2002.
The 19-year-old spent a season on loan at Middlesbrough and was impressive during his time at the Riverside Stadium.
Mr Humphris wouldn’t be against a move for the young winger, but he feels it could potentially split the fans.
“I like him, I think he’s a good player, but I don’t see it happening. I don’t think it would go down very well with the fanbase.
“It wouldn’t be as bad as when Benitez became manager, when we saw signs outside Goodison, but I just can’t see it happening.”
One player he’d love to see at the Hill Dickinson Stadium next season would be Manchester City’s winger, Jack Grealish.
“He’d probably be the best signing since (James) Rodriguez as someone who can just come in.
“You know he’s got something and he is really good on the left or right hand side and I think it would be really exciting if we got Grealish … I think he is somewhat realistic and would make a really big difference.”
Grealish was left out of Man City’s Club World Cup squad this week, and the 29-year-old had made just seven Premier League starts in the 2024/25 campaign.
Despite this, Pep Guardiola is looking to sell Grealish for around £50 million this summer, which might mean the Toffees make a loan approach for him, or they could look to shell out a club record transfer fee, currently held by Gylfi Sigurdsson.
If Grealish is to join the Blues, Mr Humphris believes this can’t be through the sales of key players in Everton’s current setup.
Jarrad Branthwaite is a player who has had interest from several clubs, with Tottenham and Chelsea stepping up their pursuit, but it is a deal Everton can’t accept.
“We can’t let him go. Last summer, I was saying we should put £100 million and nothing less, but even now, we can’t afford to let him go for that money.
“He’s so important to the team and he just seems like he is so experienced even though he’s really quite young. He’s 22 now and we can’t lose him.”
There is a lot of potential for Everton this summer, as they look to build ahead of their first season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Mr Humphris believes there are reasons to be optimistic about the summer transfer window.
” I think the new owners will give us plenty of money to spend, and I think Moyes knows a good player. If he and our new CEO come together, they can use their expertise to find some good players, so hopefully we get a load of squad players in and some more exciting players as well.”
You can check out more opinions and information surrounding the Blues on Ben’s X account @BenHjournalism
(Cover photo taken by Ben Humphris)
Daniel Moffat 
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