Any sales are likely to boost David Moyes’ transfer funds and several Everton players could attract interest this summer
Nathan Patterson celebrates victory with Dwight McNeil after the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Everton at Villa Park on January 18, 2026(Image: Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Everton do not need to sell this summer but David Moyes is working under the belief any money that does come in will help efforts to strengthen his hand for next season.
The Blues will enter the transfer window having operated with a small squad last year. It was clear that, despite this, the manager had a trusted core he placed particular reliance on.
The side effect is Everton may be willing to listen to offers to some of those who found it tougher to get minutes and, given the desire to improve the first XI and raise the level of quality within the team, departures are expected.
One player who is likely to leave the club this summer is Nathan Patterson. The full-back was solid in the wins at Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa either side of the new year but has not started since that hard-fough victory at Villa Park in mid-January. That is despite right-back having been a problem area in the run-in.
OPINION
Patterson was viewed as one of Scottish football’s hottest prospects and the successor to Seamus Coleman when he signed for Everton from Rangers in January 2022. His experience has instead been one of misfortune, with his Blues career repeatedly halted by injury, several of them serious.
That has hurt the momentum he has sought to build and the difficult reality is both Sean Dyche and Moyes have opted for players out of position to fill in at right-back even when Patterson has been fit. The Blues boss has mad no secret he is seeking a new right-back this summer.
The 24-year-old came close to a loan move to Sevilla in August and then Genoa in January and will be hoping a good World Cup – he is part of the Scotland squad despite his struggle for club minutes – to boost his chances of finding first team football next season. Reports from Yorkshire claim he is on Sheffield United’s radar and the ECHO understands interest has been registered by top-flight clubs in several leagues as they weigh up a move.
The future of Dwight McNeil is also uncertain. Having been integral to Dyche’s plans he was barely used by Moyes for the first 13 months of his second stint. That was the backdrop to his winter deadline day move to Crystal Palace in what was set up to be a loan deal that contained an obligation for the switch to be made permanent for a fee of around £20m.
The move collapsed at the 11th hour and the manner in which it fell apart led to serious criticism of Palace, particularly from McNeil’s partner.
In the weeks that followed, Moyes turned to the winger, whose involvement coincided with an upturn of form that included wins over Newcastle United, Burnley and Chelsea and a narrow defeat at eventual champions Arsenal in which the 26-year-old twice came close.
He lost his spot as Everton’s season ended in disappointment and given the club were willing to listen to offers in January, they may well do so again in the coming months. For McNeil, it would appear his best chance of first-team minutes may be to consider a move.
Like McNeil, Carlos Alcaraz was a bit-part player for most of the campaign. It was a strange development given the attacking midfielder had proven he could be a match winner against Palace, Fulham and Newcastle during his loan spell, doing enough for the Blues to make his switch permanent. The terms of his contract – two years with a club option of a third – was peculiar – and his chances diminished when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was signed and played behind the forward.
Alcaraz was unfortunate that he got injured at the same time as Dewsbury-Hall but after a year of limited opportunity, he enters the summer with some doubt over his role in the side.
Another source of intrigue is Tim Iroegbunam. The midfielder had a positive campaign and emerged as Moyes ‘go-to’ player as Idrissa Gueye missed the final games of the season.
Iroegbunam had plenty of exposure and, after struggling in the first half of the home defeat to Newcastle – leading to his early substitution – fought back well to finish the season strong with his best performance the man-of-the-match display in the draw with Manchester City.
Everton are well-stocked in central midfield, however, and with the club pursuing Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney, there are questions over what Iroegbunam’s future at the club might look like, particularly given the case he will feel he has made to be given greater responsibility.
The Blues turned down overtures from Lazio in January but, with interest in the 22-year-old growing, a serious offer could start a conversation over his future. Premier League new boys Ipswich Town have been following his situation for weeks.
Finally, there is a chance Iliman Ndiaye’s career becomes one of the big stories of the summer. The winger was excellent in the first half of last season and in the Africa Cup of Nations and is set for role for Senegal at the World Cup.
Moyes does not want to sell and, given he is under contract until 2029, Everton are under no obligation to entertain interest.
As the ECHO reported in midweek, Manchester United are understood to be interested , though, and if serious bids were to come in for him there might be an opportunity for the Blues to make a huge profit on the £15m they paid Marseille for Ndiaye.
That would provide Moyes with a significant boost to his own transfer ambitions. This is not a transfer Everton want to happen, however.
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