Grading Everton’s Transfer Window.

Including Barry, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish and Dibling.

With a move to their new stadium pending, David Moyes will hope to build upon his impressive start to his 2nd stint at the club. Grading their confirmed and potential signings based on price and how they potentially fit in the side. Have they spent sensibly or not?

Confirmed Signings

Thierno Barry - €30 Million

French striker Thierno Barry is the most expensive signing made so far, bought from Villarreal for a very fair price compared to how inflated the current market is for a striker. He is 22 years of age and represented France in the summer U21 Euros on the back of an exciting season playing in La Liga. He registered 15 goal involvements in the league (11 goals & 4 assists) with a healthy 2,322 minutes under his belt.

Looking at his heatmap, he takes up some interesting positions; most notably, he likes to drift deep into the left-hand side of the pitch. The striker enjoys breaking opposition defensive lines by dragging players from their positions by moving into this space; he then exploits this by making some runs in behind and looks to be the first point of contact. He has a great knack for getting on the end of balls into the box, especially in the air. He had a 68.8% aerial win rate in La Liga last season, which was the 2nd highest among forwards in Europe's top 5 leagues. In addition to this, he’s very comfortable receiving the ball with his back to goal and is more than capable of rolling an opposing defender in one seamless movement and getting a shot off at goal. His profile makes him an ideal candidate for slotting into David Moyes’ current 4-2-3-1 system as a lone striker, where Beto currently plays.

GRADE: B+

Adam Aznou - €9 Million

Next is 19-year-old Moroccan international attacking left-back Adam Aznou, signed from German giants Bayern Munich. He spent the 2nd half of last season on loan with La Liga side Real Valladolid, and he made 13 appearances. Aznou, as a youngster, came through Barcelona’s La Masia academy, and one common theme with players brought through this system is that he is very comfortable on the ball. One of his key attributes is his dribbling ability, and he had 1.96 completed dribbles per 90 in La Liga with a success rate of 55.6%.

An aspect worth highlighting in terms of how he could potentially fit into Everton are the positions he takes up in possession on the pitch. Looking at his heatmap, he likes to take up inverting positions just in front of the defending area; this is an area where we could see him operate ahead of Mykolenko and find new patterns of play. What’s more interesting is the positions he operates more centrally, just outside of the opposing box—this opens up a range of underlapping link-up play with the forwards, especially Ndiaye. Everton tend to play Jake O’Brien as a right-back, who in possession could potentially offer more cover to the centre-backs and facilitate this attacking freedom for Aznou. Taking into consideration the price Everton paid for the player, there are far more positives than negatives when it comes to this signing.

GRADE: A

Mark Travers - €4.6 Million

With veteran keeper Asmir Begovic departing, a back-up keeper was needed to bolster the ranks, and Mark Travers is a sensible signing. He spent last season on loan with Championship side Middlesbrough, where he kept a respectable save percentage of 76.2%. He’s 26, with a decent mixture of Premier League and Championship experience, and will surely be a reliable back-up for England No.1 Jordan Pickford.

GRADE: C

Carlos Alcaraz - €15 Million

22-year-old Alcaraz spent the tail end of last season on loan at Everton, and fans will be familiar with the versatile, attack-minded midfielder. As soon as he arrived, there was a change in performances at the club—he was David Moyes’ only signing in January. When he arrived, they were 16th in the table with fears of a potential relegation battle. At the end of the season, thanks to his contributions and 2 goals which ended up being match-winners, they finished comfortably 13th. He operated last season mostly just behind the striker, and he’s got an eye for goal, registering 1.40 shots on target per 90 in the Premier League. He should help fill the void of goals from midfield following Abdoulaye Doucouré’s departure after a disappointing season. Considering the price, this is a sensible move from Everton—keeping hold of an established player in the squad currently playing his best football.

GRADE: C+

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall - €28 Million

Dewsbury-Hall is reportedly all but confirmed as an Everton player. According to reports, a fee has been agreed. The midfielder has struggled to find a starting place in Chelsea’s side. The 26-year-old started mostly in the Conference League, where he was instrumental in the side, racking up 7 goal contributions from midfield in 13 matches and winning the cup. He’ll be looking at this move as an opportunity to establish himself as a Premier League player, and it’s very interesting to see potentially where he could operate for Everton. Some of his main strengths are where he receives the ball (receiving 7.48 progressive passes per 90) and how he uses possession to penetrate the opposition with threaded balls into the box (2.07 passes into the box per 90). He can operate in midfield offensively in both the right and left-sided half-spaces, where he has done for both Chelsea (on the right) and Leicester (on the left). This opens up a range of possibilities and could suggest some tweaks to how Moyes could potentially set the team up and branch away from the 4-2-3-1 at times.

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Here are a couple of possible options that might excite fans. Firstly, based on Everton’s line-up in their last match against Manchester United, he could operate in a midfield 3 with Gueye as a single pivot, and Garner and Dewsbury-Hall as offensive 8’s. A more attack-minded option could be a potential 4-1-4-1 set-up with Dewsbury-Hall lining up alongside Alcaraz behind the striker, playing to his strengths of receiving and releasing the ball offensively.

GRADE: B

Potential Signings

Jack Grealish - Loan

Another name floating around is Manchester City’s 29-year-old winger Jack Grealish moving to Everton on a potential loan deal. Traditionally, he has always been a left-sided attacking player, so it could potentially be a move to add some depth and be able to rotate with Ndiaye when necessary. Since moving to Manchester City for £100 million, the player has recently struggled to nail down a starting position and last season spent an average of 37 minutes played per game. Grealish remains a highly effective dribbler; his 1.64 successful dribbles per 90 places him among the league’s top ball carriers. This deal being a loan move offers a low-risk, potentially high-reward outcome for all parties involved. For Grealish, this could be a big chance for him to re-establish his Premier League credentials and potentially work his way back into England’s World Cup squad next summer.

GRADE: C+

Tyler Dibling - €40 Million+

The most exciting potential signing would be Southampton’s 19-year-old Tyler Dibling. There have been a couple of bids rejected by Southampton, and Everton have reportedly cooled their interest, unwilling to meet the asking price. But there is still a lot of time to go before the window shuts. Former Saints boss Russell Martin said he, “Tyler has every capability to play for England and at the top level for a very long time,” and that, “He has something I’ve not seen in a British player for a very long time.” Operating for Southampton as a right midfielder last season, he would fit the bill perfectly at Everton. It’s an area they have struggled to find consistent quality in recent years, and Dibling could be the missing link. He’s great at carrying the ball and dribbling with purpose—his success rate is 51.1%—and in addition to this, he can draw defenders to slip up with 2.4 fouls won per 90. Pairing this with Everton’s aerial threat offensively, with the likes of Barry, Branthwaite & Tarkowski, this could prove to be an effective method of creating goalscoring threat. He’s also got a high football IQ, can pass with both feet, and generates 0.96 chances created per 90. It’s important to bear in mind these are stats recorded with Southampton 24/25, which arguably are the 2nd worst-performing Premier League side ever, so they shouldn’t be overlooked. The deciding factor for this transfer will be how much Everton are willing to pay.

GRADE: A-

Overall, Everton are going under the radar and are quietly having a very sensible window. It’s clear to see the forward planning with the profile and age of their desired players, and it has all the makings of an exciting season for the Toffees.

FINAL GRADE: B

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