Rumour Mill — Week of 10 August 2025

I agree Maitland-Niles would be a good squad player in the mould of Alan Harper.

I also agree that Michael Keane gives me palpitations every time a ball comes towards our defense.

Hopefully not because whatever about going forward, he definitely can't defend. He plays in midfield for Ukraine, his best and only position.

I saw him lose possession, sprint back half the length of the pitch and time his slide to perfection as the other guy was primed to cross. That would have us all on our feet. He even looks like a scouser.

Signing for Wrexham for £10M.

Last season for Lyon, he played 44 games, completing the 90 minutes on 29 occasions. Did not miss any game due to injury. Played RB 29 times, with 7 assists. Also played RM 3 times, with 1 assist. Played DM and LB, each on one occasion.

The previous season, he played 29 games in multiple positions, including RB 9 times and LB twice. Other positions played were RM, CM, AM and LW.

One goal and 2 assists as a RB. No injuries recorded. In fact the last time he missed a game due to injury was December 2023, when he missed 2 games.

It’s all gone worryingly quiet lately…

Shame about Hutchinson, Ryan, if that does go through. He and Dibling look the stand out options for our RW position - so maybe we will get Dibling after all.

Fair enough.

It feels like the Dibling thing has gone too far now for us not to get him.

It’ll be such a pointlessly depressing waste of time if we don’t. Yeh, we need pace…blah blah blah.

Did Zidane have much pace? Or that many goals or assists?

Dibling will improve our team, please get this donee, and don’t keep him on the bench, Davie.

Dibling looks to me like he's different class so I hope and believe we will get it done.

Apparently there's no right wingers available in world football we're prepared to pay the asking price for.

Andrea, Zidane may not have been fast but many of the players around him were. And those who weren't were exceptional. Since we're not at that sort of level we're crying out for pace.

Conor, I think £35m is a pretty fair unremarkable price for Hutchinson - who I'd have been pleased to get. Prices seem to have shot up this summer. Anything below £20m seems to be bargain bin with very few players of Prem quality in this price bracket. £20m to £40m is a fairly routine price for likely bottom 10 teams.

We're not getting Dibling.

Ritsu Doan has gone to Frankfurt.

Why so defeatist about Dibling? Don't tell me he's gone to Frankfurt too?

We will get Tom felllows after everyone else turns us down

Hutchinson at £35m is a lot. McAtee was out of contract next summer so it’s a bit desperate to pay £30m. Both these lads look decent but have a hell of a lot to prove.

The same is true for Dibling, we’re right to try to reduce the price. We need to get the right players for the right price eventually rather than the wrong player or the wrong price just because we “WANT IT RIGHT NOW DADDY!”

I don’t see it as a tantrum at all. In fact it’s RIDICULOUS that we’ve not managed to sign a single RB or RW when we probably need 2 in each position

Further, we’ve had all summer and consequently go into our first game undercooked.

You call it a tantrum, I think most of us would call it standards

'ah, but we're waiting to make our killing at the end of the window'. well that's all very well, but players are being bought and sold NOW. Can anybody here foresee a scenario on last day along the lines of 'it's not ideal, but Jack can play both wings, and we know the player. '

I have the distinct feeling that like any sane person Friedkin is horrified by the fees being paid for relative nonentities. I doubt he foresaw that when he bought us.

Compared to other club owners he's not mega-wealthy (and neither was Moshiri devoid of his puppet master) so I have little hope that even a "statement" loan like Grealish will encourage any savvy agent/player-of-excellence to join us.

Hope I'm wrong though!

We were recently reading, "why haven't we signed anyone? Couldn't they have arranged some deals for when the window opened?".

The players signed look capable of contributing, with Jack possibly a gem. The business done looks decent value and the business not done looks like reasonable negotiation positioning.

I get the concern, but it is a difficult transfer window and the clubs around us have equal if not greater frustration.

I can accept that the usual commentaries offered might apply for a creative and pacy right winger - sought after in the market etc. But a right back?

It’s been more than 2 months. We’ve needed a RB since the late BK while we were managerless per Rangers chairman personally decided to waste several million on a Rangers squad player who was poor to start with and has since also become injury prone.

Yes, one of the big mysteries of modern Everton history - who decided to sign Nathan Patterson?

You could argue that the plan to sign a successor to Seamus began in 2017 when he suffered his double leg fracture.

Surely it’s our turn!

They apparently may replace him with Magassa from Monaco who could be an option for us at 6.

But we do already have 4 players (Ndiaye, Alcaraz, Grealish and McNeil), who can play in that position if needed. Make it 5 if you include James Garner.

I see the need for one, but not sure in the logic for two.

The glaring obvious is what we've been saying for months, some of us for years, is a right back.

And I emphasize the word “process” because I think anyone who truly expected us to patch all the holes in the squad in just one window is edging a bit too close to delusional.

Based on their performance so far, I remain convinced that our recruitment team will bring in a right back and a right wing, even if it’s on loan in the final hours of the transfer window.

And if we are a bit short on the right for Leeds, so be it. It’s a long damn season.

I would much rather pay an extra £10 million on a player who looks the real deal, showed that he can cause the top teams all sorts of difficulties and has the potential to go right to the top.

Gutted they got McAtee as well for an absolute steal as he's a great little player who is also versatile.

Mike to be fair to TFG I have been impressed by how they have went about their business even if I have reservations about the players they have brought in. As you know Ihave been very critical about them based on Roma and the amateurish way they went about their early decisions at Everton.

However
We have lost Doucoure, replaced with Grealish and Charly.
We have lost Mangala replaced with KDH
We have replaced Young (who was never 1st choice under Moyes) with Anzou.
We have replaced DCL with Barry.
We have replaced Begovic with Travers.

For good or bad the owners are backing Moyes with the players he wants and the importance of how he views the rest of the squad.

I expect a top right winger because we don't have one but I don't expect a top right back because Moyes will play OBrien and the Scot will want our biggest spends on the areas he seems vital.

In terms of acquisitions that's 6 in which is better than most and the likelihood of a minimum of 3 more to follow.

TFG have certainly backed the manager and his footprints are all over the signings we have made so far.