David Moyes has responded to questions on Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye ahead of Everton's final game before the summer transfer window closes, plus speculation on potential interest in Jake O'Brien and Michael Keane.
Reports this week have stated that Grealish – who spent last season on loan at Hill Dickinson Stadium – would prefer to return to the Blues if he leaves Manchester City, with claims that Ndiaye could move in the opposite direction for an £80million fee.
Moyes on Grealish and Ndiaye
Speaking in his pre-match press conference to preview Everton's trip to Bournemouth on Saturday, Moyes said: “We’ve not made any final decisions on that. We are in the recruitment business at the moment and we’re looking to see if we can bring some players in, if possible.
“But there’s no guarantee and to name just one person would be wrong.
“I wouldn’t talk about individual players at other clubs. Jack’s not at our club.
“He was brilliant for us, a great boy, but it’s wrong for me to talk about him when he’s at another club. We’re certainly not in a hurry to sell our best players, that’s for sure.”
Ndiaye's future and transfer stance
With Ndiaye having turned down several new contract offers this year and then spoken of his desire to play Champions League football on the eve of the World Cup finals, his future has been subject to intense speculation this summer. However, Everton remain adamant that the man who scored their last goal at Goodison Park and first at Hill Dickinson Stadium is not for sale.
In late July, Ndiaye’s father Mouhamadou Abdoulaye Ndiaye insisted: “he’s not going anywhere,” after revealing that his son had called him. Then, after Everton shared photographs of the player returning to training with his club colleagues in Germany the following week after his extending post-World Cup break after being in action for Senegal, his international team-mate Idrissa Gueye, who called time on his own Blues career this summer after seven years of service over two spells, replied: “Here to stay.”
Asked about the importance of keeping hold of the 26-year-old at this late stage of the window, Moyes said: “I’ve just said. I don’t think we need to do any more. We’ve got nothing to be concerned about.
“As far as I know, we’ve had no contact from any club. Somebody told me we had contact from, I think it was Al Hilal, in the summer, but we heard nothing from them.
“So, a lot of stuff that floats around is not always true. Maybe this is true? But certainly, the stuff previous wasn’t.”
Defensive duo and recruitment approach
There have also been reports this week over the futures of both O’Brien and Keane but Moyes insisted there hadn’t been any enquiries over the defensive pair. He said: “We can only answer that if somebody made an offer. If you’re talking about offers for any of those players, we haven’t had offers for any of those players.”
On the possibility of further signings, Moyes remarked: “I’m not sure yet but we’ll do our very best to try and get something here if we can,” so asked if he felt supported by Everton’s hierarchy, he added: “I think all managers are always looking for more. I’m trying to give Evertonians the best they possibly can and push for everything.
“So, that’s my job to try and get them the best team, the best players I can.”
Having abandoned the director of football model brought in by previous owner Farhad Moshiri, the Blues now operate with a transfer recruitment team. Asked if he has the final say on targets, the Glaswegian gaffer said: “Yeah. Mostly I do.
“We have lots of scouts who are out working and they’re the people who bring people in we wouldn’t know so well, maybe from South America et cetera. I’ve certainly got an idea of a lot of the players throughout Europe and the UK.
“Getting the right ones, bringing them to the table at the right price, players who we are interested in. It gets through the recruitment team who break it down and bring it in: ‘there’s two or three players here we’ll look at,’ and we make decisions on them.”
