David Moyes Faces Disappointment After Everton's Deadline Day
David Moyes has lived through enough transfer windows to know they rarely go to script. This one still stung.
Everton’s manager emerged from deadline day with Jack Grealish in on loan, Iliman Ndiaye gone to Manchester City for £65m, and a stack of deals that slipped through his fingers. The sense of opportunity missed hung in the air.
“We were looking to get some money in,” Moyes said. They did. But at a cost he never wanted to pay.
Balogun deal unravels at the last
The headline blow came late. Folarin Balogun had completed his medical at Finch Farm, the £40m agreement with Monaco had been renegotiated after issues flagged in the tests, and both clubs even filed a deal sheet before the 23:00 BST deadline to buy more time.
Everything pointed one way. Then the move collapsed.
The 25-year-old United States international changed his mind and walked away, leaving Everton with no new centre-forward beyond Beto’s earlier exit and no time to find another solution.
“It wasn’t anyone’s fault and ultimately it happens in football as the player had a problem in his medical and that was simply it,” Moyes said. “There are no other stories behind it. That is exactly what happened.”
The pressure of the clock, the renegotiation, the hesitation. In the end, Balogun chose not to jump.
Ndiaye sacrificed, Grealish arrives
To fund a rebuild, Everton made a decision that cut against every football instinct Moyes has: they sold Iliman Ndiaye.
Ndiaye, a fan favourite and one of the side’s few genuine match-winners, leaves behind 15 goals and four assists in 67 Premier League appearances. His move to Manchester City underlined the scale of the challenge Everton now face in trying to compete while their best players are picked off.
“We lost Iliman Ndiaye, which is someone who we definitely didn’t want to lose,” Moyes admitted. “But sometimes it is difficult when the likes of Man City come along.”
The money helped open one important door. Jack Grealish arrived from City on a season-long loan, a marquee name dropped into a squad that suddenly looks lighter in its cutting edge.
Grealish brings pedigree, creativity, and a point to prove. What he cannot do is replace Ndiaye’s goals on his own.
Targets missed, questions linger
Balogun was not the only attacking option who slipped away. Everton held talks over Manchester United forward Joshua Zirkzee and Aston Villa striker Tammy Abraham, only to be rebuffed by both.
They chased depth at the back as well. A move for Fulham defender Kenny Tete fell apart when his club failed to find a replacement in time, shutting that door just as Everton tried to push it open.
One deal did cross the line: right-back Ainsley Maitland-Niles arrived from Lyon for £3m, adding versatility and Premier League experience. Useful, yes. Transformative, no.
Moyes did not hide his frustration.
“I am disappointed that we didn’t do more business and things didn’t go our way in the end,” he said. “Sometimes in football you have to live with disappointments and move on, and we will.”
Some setbacks were out of Everton’s hands: a player changing his mind, a selling club unable to replace, the gravitational pull of Manchester City. Others, Moyes hinted, came from within.
“Some things went against us and some things we could have done better,” he admitted. “Ultimately we didn’t want to lose a lot of the different players but for reasons that had to happen.”
The window is shut now. The squad is set. Moyes must turn a day of “what ifs” into a season that doesn’t ask the same question.
