Everton manager David Moyes is eager to avoid some of the challenges posed by so many late arrivals last summer
Everton are attempting to strike an early deal for Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney
Everton are pursuing a deal for Hayden Hackney in a move that is symbolic of one of the club’s ambitions for this summer – early transfer business.
The Championship player of the year is coveted by a host of Premier League outfits but Everton are well-positioned to sign a player who would strengthen their central midfield.
An early arrival would boost morale in and around a club still stunned by the collapse that marked the end of what had been a promising season that appeared to be building towards qualification for Europe.
It would have other benefits, too, with the Blues keen to avoid the scenario that unfolded last summer, when they started pre-season barely able to muster a squad of senior players.
The importance of pre-season cannot be overstated and, while Everton started the 2025-26 campaign reasonably well, they suffered from issues that began long before the trip to Leeds United that kicked off the season.
The churn of players that was taking place 12 months ago was unavoidable for both David Moyes and the Friedkin Group
The Blues were safe long before the campaign ended but so many big decisions had been pushed to summer 2025 by the club’s former regime that making sense of the muddle was always going to set the club back.
As a result, the Blues spent June largely resolving the futures of those whose contracts were expiring. Despite early efforts to move for Liam Delap and Kenny Tete, it was not before July that the club could be truly proactive.
Even then, business was hampered. A lack of European football and the reputational damage caused by the survival fights on and off the pitch led to targets hesitating over interest.
While CEO Angus Kinnear and head of player trading Nick Hammond were in place, the rest of the new-look leadership team arrived in a staggered fashion through the summer months – another unavoidable hindrance to a club looking to create a vision and a strategy to make it come alive.
The consequence was a squad that was built late in the summer months. Thierno Barry arrived early but the group that started pre-season in Scotland was reliant on the under-18s to make it work. If you look back at the squad Moyes then took to the USA, it is barely believable Everton were able to fulfil their commitments.
Signings did arrive but several did so having had a limited pre-season (Jack Grealish), having played all summer (Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall through the Club World Cup with Chelsea) or after the new campaign had started (Tyler Dibling and Merlin Rohl).
All of that hurt efforts to build fitness, tactics and to integrate players into a new squad and new surroundings.
The Blues will not embark on a high-profile summer tour this summer and so there is less of a competitive need to do business quickly. But there is recognition at Finch Farm that the preparation for last season was less than ideal.
Not all of that was Everton’s fault and, given Carlos Alcaraz was signed within a week of the end of the season, had Delap and Tete – both of whom the club believed it was close to convincing – joined then significant early headway would have been made.
There is a willingness to do that this summer. Moyes reflects on the lack of players he had for the Premier League Summer Series with horror and the club would like to do some business early this year in the hope of being able to build towards the new season with new faces having a genuine chance to get themselves embedded with the group.
The early move for Hackney is indicative of that – the Blues’ pursuit helped by the 23-year-old entering the final 12 months of his deal and through Middlesbrough having once again missed out on promotion to the Premier League.
The uncertainty over whether Everton would qualify for Europe will have delayed some plans but Moyes was insistent the club did not have alternative policies that would be defined by qualification.
The only significant change would have been if the Blues had reached the Champions League. Otherwise, the plan was to attract players good enough to help the team compete on the continent whether or not they got there.
Given the senior leadership team has been in place since the end of the summer and that Everton were never threatened by relegation this season, those in charge of recruitment have had a long run-up to this window.
The World Cup will make early business tougher, as will managerial upheaval. The Blues like Tyrique George and are open to triggering the option to buy him, but would ideally like to revisit the conditions before making a call – negotiations that may open the door for Xabi Alonso to take a look at him. Enzo Maresca may wish to re-assess Manchester City’s previous policy towards Grealish, too.
But there is an understanding of the value of acting early and a desire to do so when opportunities arise, as in the case of Hackney.
A version of this article first appeared in the Royal Blue newsletter, available here