Season › 2024-25 › News The Rumour Mill Ernest Nuamah touted as Moyes's first signing 11/01/2025 49comments | Jump to last A number of the less reputable sources for transfer rumours are claiming that Everton are close to making the first signing of David Moyes's new tenure: Ernest Nuamah of Olympique Lyonnais. It's being reported that the club has reignited their interest in the 21-year-old winger who has largely been used off the bench in Ligue 1. Last summer, it was claimed that Nuamah had agreed on personal terms with Everton, however, Fulham nipped in ahead of them to agree to a deal with Lyon for the Ghanaian international. The transfer quickly broke down though during the medical and it was reported that Nuamah fled in tears as he wanted to remain in Lyon. Reader Comments (49) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer () Mike Gaynes 1 Posted 11/01/2025 at 16:55:59 Nuamah has one goal this season, against Eintracht Frankfurt in a Europa League group game. He has started three of the last five for Lyon but is on the bench today as they play Brest. Kevin Molloy 2 Posted 11/01/2025 at 17:05:01 scores goals too? Sign him up!feels like we're really on a roll now. Ajay Gopal 3 Posted 11/01/2025 at 17:22:27 Moyes will play him in a pre-season in 2027 - ' he's one for the future, that's for sure'... :-( Alan McGuffog 4 Posted 11/01/2025 at 17:41:50 Already got a song for him. Courtesy of Benny Hill. Ian Wilkins 5 Posted 11/01/2025 at 18:05:49 Thelwell tried to sign him in Summer and failed, fortunately. Hes had a poor season thus far at Lyon. Hes another Lindstrøm/ Danjuma in the making. Surely lazy journalism, we cant continue to make these mistakes. Thelwell on borrowed time. Hes next out the door imo. Mike Gaynes 6 Posted 11/01/2025 at 18:17:32 Ian, not a valid comparison IMO. Danjuma was 27 when he joined us, Lindstrom 24, mature pros trying to resurrect wayward careers. Nuamah is a youngster. Andy Wheeler 7 Posted 11/01/2025 at 19:40:34 To the tune of the muppets….Nuamah Nuamah do doo do do do Nuamah Nuamah do doo do doooo Robert Tressell 8 Posted 11/01/2025 at 22:12:05 In terms of goals and assists, he's roughly neck and neck with Sulemana – the Saints winger who we've tried to sign a few times.Sulemana got 14 goals, 8 assists in 43 games for Nordsjaelland in Denmark – before getting 6 goals and 4 assists in 47 games for Rennes in France.By comparison, Nuamah got 20 goals and 5 assists in 49 games for Nordsjaelland – before getting 4 goals and 3 assists in 50 games for Lyon.So, if the comparison with Sulemana is anything to go by, it doesn't look like he's going to be a stellar player in the Premier League.However, we are absolutely crying out for pace and dribbling ability – and Nuamah has that. He also has another quality that will make him particularly irresistible – his club are desperate for money and need to sell.I would view this as quite a likely signing. Si Pulford 9 Posted 12/01/2025 at 00:42:10 Thelwell has gone. Theyre trying to get Weir in from Brighton. Nigel Scowen 10 Posted 12/01/2025 at 00:44:51 Where have you heard that, Si? Pat Kelly 11 Posted 12/01/2025 at 09:35:43 This has all the hallmarks of a Thelwell signing.A failed medical the last time someone tried to sign him. No problem if he's injured, Thelwell will take him. Si Pulford 12 Posted 12/01/2025 at 12:48:59 Nigel (10) a friend of mine told me about the Dyche sacking on the Monday. I thought it was nonsense until it was announced! The lad does know a few people currently at the club and some ex players. He also said Thelwell was soon to be gone and Moyes will essentially be in total control. Doesnt like the DOF model but are enquiring about Weir who Moyes has a good relationship with. Up to now the lad is 50% on these rumours but who knows, it could become 100% in the next few days. Interestingly, the Esk (who throws a lot of shit at the wall and hopes some sticks…) has gone a step further and basically said Weir is done and dusted. Could be nonsense but I trust this lad more than the Esk- he very rarely says anything from inside the club but when he does he gets it right. For me Weir would be a much bigger story than Moyes. Hes done incredible work at Brighton since Dan Ashworth moved on and working with Ashworth so most have an incredible global network, as witnessed at Brighton. Si Pulford 13 Posted 12/01/2025 at 12:49:56 Pat (11) he passed his medical. He just decided he wasnt ready to leave France and went missing before he was due to put pen to paper believe it or not! Mike Price 14 Posted 12/01/2025 at 12:57:06 Id be very happy to see the back of Thelwell; terrible signings like Beto and lazy extensions to Coleman, Young and Doucoure have cost us a fortune and added nothing. Robert Tressell 15 Posted 12/01/2025 at 15:00:36 In fairness though, Mike #14, if we weren't struggling to stay solvent and manage PSR, Thelwell might have been able to get his key targets like Gibbs-White, Wharton and Kudus. Those three players alone would have made a huge difference.The relationship between Moyes and Weir might make a change – a logical move – but the thing holding Thelwell back in first-team recruitment has been money. Rob Jones 16 Posted 12/01/2025 at 15:53:33 Thelwell, for me, has done a better job than he's given credit for.There have been duds, for sure: Beto chief among them, though if Dyche had ever bothered to use him properly, rather than using him as a stand-in for Calvert-Lewin in terms of tactics, he might have scored some more goals. He's focused on signing young players with a sell-on value, as opposed to the prior strategy of overpaying on players who were looking for their last big contract, and therefore couldn't be sold on. It's not his fault that neither Benitez or Dyche in particular ever really bothered to use the youths he brought in.But he's slimmed down the wage bill, he's done a lot in terms of putting in an actual infrastructure behind the scenes (the club genuinely sounds utterly amateur in terms of infrastructure), and he's been hamstrung by PSR and the fact that Moshiri pulled the plug on finances. His entire tenure as DoF has been about undoing the ruinous damage of 2016-21, when money was spent on rubbish, and more money then spent on giving that rubbish insane wages (even now, our wage bill is high mid-table, as I understand it). Robert Tressell 17 Posted 12/01/2025 at 16:03:44 Our wage bill is 11th, Rob – but closer to 18th place than West Ham in 9th. Peter Mills 18 Posted 12/01/2025 at 17:27:20 Alan #4,Ernest was only 52 – he'll be one for the future. Pete Jeffries 19 Posted 12/01/2025 at 20:15:07 Si (12) Regarding Weir and his global network, yes its true these agents have indeed got every player on their ipad ready for sale for a price and a fat fee for themselves to boot.And as we know a lot of them are crap.All of which is often to the detriment of any promising young hopefuls in our club or based locally.Which is why our own kids never get a proper chance because there are usually no agents fees for homegrown talent and so they end up disillusioned and quit football.Look at the Arsenal Man U game today the starting line ups included two English lads.QED Alan J Thompson 20 Posted 13/01/2025 at 15:45:31 BBC Gossip are saying that Atalanta are interested in taking DC-L in this window, anyone heard anything as they have history with Godfrey. Si Pulford 21 Posted 13/01/2025 at 15:59:40 Pete youre right we dont want to see our local players stop making the step up. But in terms of Weir paying fat fees? His signings at Brighton have the club an absolute fortune in sell on fees. This is 100% the model we will have to look at. But cheap sell high. Brian Williams 22 Posted 13/01/2025 at 16:15:53 Not sure this guy's the player we need to make a significant difference from the get go.More one for the near future, IMO. Eric Myles 23 Posted 14/01/2025 at 09:42:23 Alan #20, maybe they want to buy DCL so they can loan him to Ipswich along with Godfrey. Bill Fairfield 24 Posted 14/01/2025 at 17:00:41 Philogene hasn't signed for Ipswich yet. All agreed… but he still hasn't signed. Robert Tressell 25 Posted 14/01/2025 at 17:34:48 Who knows then Bill. Perhaps Everton couldn't commit to spending until the PSR position was cleared up today (subject to the stadium costs issue?) - but Philogene and Villa are prepared to wait. Billy Shears 26 Posted 14/01/2025 at 22:00:50 Why don't we look at lower league players?Dolan at Blackburn or Torp at Coventry? Sam Hoare 27 Posted 16/01/2025 at 20:57:59 Apparently we have agreed a fee with Lyon for Nuamah. Around £18M. Not sure we can expect him to hit the ground running but he's a left-footed right winger with real pace and the ability to beat a man. He's only just turned 21 so plenty of time to develop. Grant Rorrison 28 Posted 16/01/2025 at 21:01:40 Sam @27. 0 goals and 0 assists so far this season. Can't wait, it's an exciting prospect, it really is. Sam Hoare 29 Posted 16/01/2025 at 21:10:07 Yes Grant, he's a good prospect. Though certainly his end product needs improving. If he was banging in the goals, he wouldn't be coming to us! Grant Rorrison 30 Posted 16/01/2025 at 21:21:55 Sam 29. You could get Broja Sainz for a couple of million more. Only 23 and actually has an end product. How is no end product going to help us get up the table? Robert Tressell 31 Posted 16/01/2025 at 21:26:55 Unfortunately you can only buy players who are for sale. Sainz may be available in summer for about £25m (unless Norwich go up) but not in January.Nuamah offers something we don't currently have - pace and dribbling ability. Those attributes give us more threat on the counter and will hopefully goals. He's not exactly Savinho but he could be a good signing. Conor McCourt 32 Posted 16/01/2025 at 21:27:00 Grant he's not a bad finisher..he's only a kid. He scored quite a few for his previous club. He scored 3 and 2 assists from 21 last season. He's only had 5 starts this season. I seen him last year when watching OBrien and he looked lively. Strong little lad as well as Ghanaians do quite well in the PL. Ricky Oak 33 Posted 16/01/2025 at 21:38:24 Get him in, if only for the fastest milk cart on the dock. Also if hes like the the Suleiman kiddie playing for scumhampton we will be improving exponentially. Grant Rorrison 34 Posted 16/01/2025 at 21:42:23 Robert @31. Sainz is linked with a 20 million move to Girona in the papers currently. Everyone is for sale for the right price. Conor @32. If he is so good, then why is he playing less this season than last and why are they prepared to accept a loss on what they paid for him? Paul Hewitt 35 Posted 16/01/2025 at 21:45:47 Go and get Esse from Millwall. 19 plays on the right, rapid and has 5 goals. Available for a mere 14 million. Conor McCourt 36 Posted 16/01/2025 at 21:54:12 Grant Lyon are desperate for cash as fear of being demoted. I didn't say he was so good just that he looked a talent and his stats aren't that bad per minutes played. He's also got 12 caps for Ghana with 3 goals. I don't know why he's fallen down the pecking order. Silva wanted him also and he normally does well in the transfer market Sam Hoare 37 Posted 16/01/2025 at 22:01:23 Grant, paper talk doesnt mean Sainz is available.Also, crucially, Sainz is a left winger of which we already have 3 or 4. Weve needed someone who plays primarily on the right for years.Not saying Nuamah is the best option or even close but he has some things that we lack. Lets see if it goes through.Also worth considering that Sainz only got 3 goals in 30+games in Spanish second division a few seasons when he was Nuamahs age. Robert Tressell 38 Posted 16/01/2025 at 22:07:12 I don't think anyone (probably including Thelwell and Moyes) considers Nuamah to be "that good". They are after improvement, not perfection – and have a budget to work with.Is Esse a better player? Possibly but you can see why he would prefer Palace and Bournemouth right now. Will Sainz go to Girona for £20M? Possibly Grant although I'd be surprised if this is a January move because it kills Norwich's chance of a playoff place. And if it does happen, maybe the £20M from Man City owned Girona turns up in full straightaway – compared with the instalments of £18M we will probably pay for Nuamah.If we get him - and also the now heavily linked Rensch from Ajax - that would give a our right flank a completely new dimension. It would be fast if nothing else. Sam Hoare 39 Posted 16/01/2025 at 22:16:26 Robert, think TFG might well get Rensch this month but for Roma rather than us (even though wed probably play him more). Conor McCourt 40 Posted 16/01/2025 at 22:27:07 Sam, with regards to having 3 or 4 left-wingers, it still wouldn't surprise me if Willian joined especially as the likes of The Telegraph are reporting it. The club may want more firepower to protect their investment hence Lindsrom and Ndiaye might be viewed as central options. Bill Gall 41 Posted 16/01/2025 at 22:31:56 Just 2 weeks left in the transfer window and still only talk from supposed people in the know, and no action from the club. Makes you wonder what the Director of Football has been doing since the close of the last window? Sam Hoare 42 Posted 16/01/2025 at 22:32:07 Conor, my sense is that Willian is just agent manipulation but certainly attacking additions in any area might be viable depending on how Moyes views McNeil, Ndiaye etc.I would like to have someone who favours the right though. I can't remember the last time we had that? Townsend maybe? Kevin Molloy 43 Posted 16/01/2025 at 22:56:33 Great news. Here we go! Conor McCourt 44 Posted 16/01/2025 at 23:06:26 Yeah, when you think about it, Sam, you are probably right. Him or Rodriguez who although not a winger was always better from the right.You might also be right about Willian but, because he is a free transfer and with PSR, you would imagine he could have a few takers. Sam Hoare 45 Posted 17/01/2025 at 07:14:41 Conor, very possibly and Willian even at 37 could offer a footballing intelligence fee (if any) of our current lot can match.I've no idea of the numbers but I wonder for how long PSR will restrict us? I've heard people say that we'll have a lot more room to breathe from this summer onwards. Nathan Ford 46 Posted 17/01/2025 at 09:08:52 Cancel the Broja and Harrison loans. Sign Nuamah for the right wing. Sign Willian to play the attacking midfielder role instead of Doucoure with Lindstrom as an impact sub. Try and loan Chilwell for the left-back position with option to buy. This leaves an option for loaning another forward; I'd love Evan Ferguson. Sounds a doable window with Ferguson the most doubtful of the lot. If we sell Beto as well, then it's not a huge outlay, so financially possible… Christopher Timmins 47 Posted 17/01/2025 at 09:20:04 I assume the window closes this day fortnight so, being realistic, we will be lucky to bring in one or two given the time left and the state of the market.When you are at the bottom of the food chain, and we have been there for some time now, it's just not that easy to get deals done. Brian Harrison 49 Posted 17/01/2025 at 09:41:42 Seeing this deal was being touted before Moyes joined, I guess this is a Thelwell signing if it happens. I would imagine Moyes will want to bring in a striker and a playmaker, given Broja is practically out for the rest of the season and Beto wants away, and Calvert-Lewin just isn't good enough. I like the bits I have seen from Chermiti but, after such a long lay-off, cameos from the bench is the most we can expect this season. I would like us to see Armstrong given a start in between Gana and Mangala, as he is always looking to play a forward pass. The results went our way again last night but we need to start winning as they won't always go our way.I don't know if Moyes will consider playing a 3-5-2 formation as it seemed to help us get more men in the opponent's box, I know we were trailing at the time of the switch to 3-5-2 but it seemed to suit the players we have. Also, looking at O'Brien, you wonder why Dyche didnt try this system as he looked quite comfortable playing there. Si Pulford 50 Posted 18/01/2025 at 09:49:10 Rumours that its down to Moyes now. Its a no from me. Nothing Thelwell has done so far makes me think hell get this one right. But we all know Moyes can spot a player. I trust Moyes judgment more. I read a statistical break down of this kid and apart from one stat hes performing worse than both Harrison and Lindstrom. Let that sink in!! Although he does have pace and we badly need pace Im not sure a 21 year old whos struggling in Ligue 1 comes into a relegation battle in front of a toxic crowd and suddenly starts performing. The rumours of Dewsbury Hall and Chilwell are much more like it for me. Players that instantly improve the squad/first 11. However they could be miles wide of the mark. Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. How to get rid of these ads and support TW © ToffeeWeb