Everton have reshaped their squad for the 2026-27 campaign after finishing 13th for the second consecutive season. David Moyes is looking to strengthen to get the Blues challenging in the top 10 of the Premier League.
Summer window deals
Having sat just three points off a Champions League qualification spot on March 21 following the 3-0 victory over Chelsea, the Blues failed to win any of their last seven fixtures. Moyes, who needs to take charge of 14 more matches to break Harry Catterick’s record for the most in charge of Everton, will be hoping to avoid a hangover from that disappointment and get the second year at Hill Dickinson Stadium off to a flier.
Here’s a record of every deal done this window so far.
Seamus Coleman out - 15 May
Although he officially wouldn’t depart for another six weeks until his contract expired, long-serving club captain Coleman called time on his Everton career after 17-and-a-half years ahead of the Blues’ final home game of their inaugural season at Hill Dickinson against Sunderland.
Everton have made a meal of finding a long-term successor for their bargain sixty grand buy from Killybegs with Nathan Patterson now deemed surplus to requirements. After breaking the club’s Premier League appearance record and then knocking Dixie Dean and his former team-mate Leon Osman out of the Blues’ all-time top 10 for matches played, the time was right for Coleman, their best right-back of modern times, to move on. While the Republic of Ireland international’s best days as a player are behind him, Everton will greatly miss his huge presence in the dressing room.
Hayden Hackney in - 2 July
News that Everton were working on a deal for the Championship Player of the Season provided an early summer boost for beleaguered Blues after the end of term collapse last time out. It took a while for them to strike a deal with Middlesbrough, but given some of the other huge transfer fees that have been splashed out by Premier League rivals already this summer, the £16.5million fee looks an astute piece of business.
Moyes has an impressive pedigree of taking players from the second tier and polishing them up into proven Premier League stars having enjoyed big successes with Tim Cahill, Joleon Lescott and Jarrod Bowen. At 24 and having had just one year left on his contract at Boro, who came within a game of clinching promotion, it looks like an opportune time to take a chance on Hackney, who after his debut at Stoke City, told the ECHO he is targeting double figures for goals and assists next season.
Merlin Rohl in - 6 July
The obligation to buy on-loan Rohl from Freiburg kicked in from the moment that Everton avoided relegation last season, but the Blues didn’t confirm his permanent arrival until the same day they signed Tyrique George. Given that the Germany Under-21 international didn’t arrive until transfer deadline day last summer, he was often playing catch up throughout his early months in the Premier League, but he’s arguably enjoyed as bright a pre-season as anyone in the squad so far this year.
However, while the Potsdam-born prospect has proven himself as a hard runner, he’s been deployed as a right-back and right winger of late and might be hard pressed to get a game in what was initially seen as his preferred position of central midfield, as right now that seems a particularly congested area.
Tyrique George in - 6 July
Another smart piece of negotiating by Hill Dickinson Stadium chiefs after they managed to shave £7million off their option to turn George’s loan deal into a permanent move from Chelsea yet still get him through the door in the first week of July. Although the 20-year-old only started one game for Everton last season after his temporary switch from Stamford Bridge, he immediately moved ahead £35million Tyler Dibling, who is the same age, in the pecking order and he’s looked lively throughout pre-season so far.
Idrissa Gueye out - 24 July
Everton were clearly willing to offer Gueye – who served the club for seven years over two spells – an opportunity to continue given their announcement in June that they were continuing to liaise with his representatives, but despite having been a mainstay for every game he was available for until the final month of last season, it seems as though the pay/playing prospects were not enough for the veteran midfielder to extend his stay.
Although he turns 37 next month, the midfielder’s Senegal’s most-capped player’s World Cup displays suggest that, unlike Coleman who is 11 months his senior, he could still be capable of another season at a high level with someone, but it’s probably right for the Blues to now focus on younger options in the engine room.
