The transfer window officially opens today and while Everton have yet to line-up any deals, speculation is well and truly under way.
Everton's Transfer Targets
One player the Blues are trying to sign is Middlesbrough midfield star Hayden Hackney. The Championship Player of the Season is understood to want to join Everton but talks remain ongoing over the fee it will take to prise him away from his boyhood club.
Beyond that, gossip is the order of the day. And when it comes to gossip, a lot centres around the players the Blues could possibly buy from relegated West Ham United.
That's not to be unexpected given David Moyes used to manage the Hammers and given their squad contains the type of profile of players that Everton's lacks.
Potential West Ham Targets for Everton
Given the interest in Hackney, it remains to be seen whether the Blues boss will renew his interest in veteran midfielder Tomas Soucek, who Moyes is said to have tried to sign last summer, while last month the ECHO reported that, despite right-back being a priority position for the club, Aaron Wan-Bissaka was not at that stage being pursued.
Everton have also been linked with attacking left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf, who would offer a contrast to the more steady Vitalii Mykolenko, who last week signed a new three-year contract, while it is no secret that Moyes would love to work with Jarrod Bowen again.
The Hammers captain, though, will have many suitors, and the same could be said of Crysencio Summerville, a player who could provide the Blues with an injection of pace down the wings and who enhanced his reputation with a fine goal for Ronald Koeman's Netherlands in their World Cup opener against Japan on Sunday night.
Striker Search
Everton are open to exploring the striker market but there remains an acceptance that proven centre-forwards are expensive and in demand. Should an affordable option emerge in the window they would consider it, however, and a report in The Guardian at the weekend suggested that Taty Castellanos could be one of those.
The 27-year-old Argentina international only joined West Ham in January from Lazio and while he was unable to stop them from slipping into the Championship, he scored seven goals in 22 appearances.
West Ham's Transfer Strategy
There was a train of thought that Hammers would have to sell their big-name players after suffering relegation. However, the man who is attempting to become the club's largest shareholder says that is not the case.
On Saturday it was announced that Daniel Kretinsky has agreed with the family of the late David Gold to buy some of their shares, which would enable the owner of the Royal Mail to increase his stake in the club to 43 per cent.
And in an exclusive interview with The Times, Kretinsky says he wants to keep the majority of the squad intact to give manager Nuno Espirito Santo the opportunity to win promotion at the first time of asking.
He said: “We have a very credible strategy. We don’t need to sell the players for financial reasons. We are doing this to make sure we are promoted back to the Premier League immediately. That is our only goal.
“Key players are waiting for us. They want to see there is a real chance of keeping the squad together. What matters is funding, strategy and consistency.
“We have spoken to all of them. They need to see that our project is real and serious. Promotion is our only goal.”
