David Moyes Urges Everton to Address Squad Shortcomings
David Moyes walked away from Deepdale with a 4-0 win and a place in the next round of the Carabao Cup. He did not walk away satisfied with his squad.
The Everton manager was blunt after the rout of Preston North End: the work in the transfer market is not finished.
“I still think we’re short in the squad,” he said, laying out a concern that has hung over Goodison Park all summer.
Five signings, but numbers still don’t add up
On paper, Everton have been busy. Five players through the door, two of them familiar faces in Tyrique George and Merlin Rohl after their loans last season. In Moyes’ mind, that boils down to three genuine additions: Hayden Hackney, Christian Norgaard and Brennan Johnson.
Set those gains against the departures and the picture looks less encouraging.
Seamus Coleman and Idrissa Gueye have gone at the end of their contracts. Dwight McNeil has left as part of the deal that brought Johnson from Crystal Palace. Jack Grealish has returned to Manchester City after his loan expired.
Strip it back and Moyes believes he has fewer options now than he did a year ago.
“We thought our squad was quite thin last year and at the moment, I think we're still one down, if my numbers work out,” he said. “We're one down from where we were even last year. So I still think we're short in the squad. I still think we're short in quality in some places. I need to try and add that.”
For a side that already carried one of the smallest squads in the Premier League, that is a stark assessment.
Right-back priority and Grealish question
The gaps are clear. Right-back remains a problem position, and has done for too long. Everton are actively searching for a solution, even with Nathan Patterson on the books.
Patterson is the only specialist right-back in the squad, yet he is not viewed internally as the long-term answer. That leaves Moyes and the recruitment team under pressure to find a new option before the window closes.
Attention also lingers on a more glamorous possibility. Everton remain in contact with Jack Grealish and Manchester City over the prospect of the playmaker returning to Goodison Park. Any move will not be straightforward. Interest is growing elsewhere, with clubs such as Aston Villa and Sunderland now circling.
If Everton want Grealish back, they may have to move decisively in the final days of the window.
Uncertain futures: Beto, Patterson and others
While Moyes pushes for signings, exits are very much on the table.
Beto’s situation feels increasingly fragile. The striker did not get on the pitch at Preston, finishing the night as an unused substitute. At full-time he handed his shirt to a supporter, a gesture that will do nothing to cool talk about his future.
Patterson, too, sits in an awkward spot: trusted enough to be the only natural right-back, but not trusted enough to be the solution.
Carlos Alcaraz and Tim Iroegbunam add to the uncertainty. Both are in the final year of their contracts, though some of those deals include club options to extend. Decisions are looming there as well.
The sense is clear: Everton’s squad is not just light, it is unstable.
O’Brien talk played down
Jake O'Brien’s name has also crept into the conversation. The centre-back did not feature at Preston and reports suggest Everton would be willing to listen to offers for him.
Moyes, though, pushed back on the idea that O’Brien has no future under him.
“Just the same. No problem, I’ve chosen at the moment not to use him, but he’ll be used in plenty of games, no doubt,” he said.
The message was calm, but the reality is that every unused substitute in this Everton squad now attracts scrutiny with the window closing in six days.
The performance at Deepdale showed what Moyes can coax from the players he has. His own words made it just as clear: unless Everton move smartly and quickly in the market, this season will be fought with a squad he already considers one body short.
