Last updated: 24 June 2026
The silly season is well and truly in full flow. If you’ve lost track of who Everton have actually been linked with this summer, you’re not alone.
Between agents talking up moves, European outlets chasing clicks, and David Moyes genuinely casting a wide net while the Friedkin Group works out what it can spend, the number of names attached to the Hill Dickinson since the season ended has been relentless. It’s normal. Same old. We’re as guilty as anyone.
But some of it is real. Hackney, Stones and Grealish’s return look like genuine bits of business that will (or may) get done. Most of it is noise, though — speculative agent-driven links, or names picked up by foreign outlets with no real source on this side of the Channel.
So you don’t have to, we’ve pulled together every player reported to have interest from Everton this summer, drawn from our own coverage and the wider reporting, and given each one an honest likelihood rating. We think. Possibly. Hopefully.
The full list
| Player | Position | Current Club | Nature of Everton’s interest | Likelihood |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Grealish | Winger | Manchester City | Everton won’t trigger his £50m option but Moyes wants a fresh loan or cut-price permanent deal | High |
| Hayden Hackney | Midfielder | Middlesbrough | Talks progressing rapidly on a £20m package | High |
| John Stones | Centre-back | Manchester City (free agent) | Advanced talks over a free, lucrative homecoming | High |
| Kai Hutchinson | Winger | Dundee United | 16-year-old has reportedly accepted a proposal to join | Very High |
| Edon Zhegrova | Winger | Juventus | Talks ongoing; Everton said to have been in the race longest | Medium-High |
| Georgios Vagiannidis | Right-back | Sporting CP | Viewed internally as the most attainable defensive option | Medium-High |
| Ngal’ayel Mukau | Midfielder | Lille | Seen as ideal long-term cover as Gana Gueye winds down | Medium-High |
| Sander Berge | Midfielder | Burnley | Stock has risen sharply after a string of impressive World Cup displays for Norway | Medium-High |
| Liam Delap | Striker | Chelsea | Loan move explored as Delap struggles for game time | Medium |
| Tyrique George | Winger | Chelsea (loan at Everton) | Familiar quantity; deal depends on Chelsea’s asking price | Medium |
| Marc Casado | Midfielder | Barcelona | Link suggests Moyes wants more defensive control in midfield | Medium |
| Lois Openda | Striker | RB Leipzig | Competing with Juventus for a forward Leipzig may sell | Medium |
| Lucas Herrington | Defender | Colorado Rapids | Specific, fresh link with no progress reported yet | Medium |
| Karl Etta Eyong | Striker | Levante | Enquiry made, but Ipswich have the head start in talks | Medium-Low |
| Crysencio Summerville | Winger | West Ham United | One name floated as cover if Grealish doesn’t stay | Medium-Low |
| Jarrod Bowen | Winger | West Ham United | Moyes interested but fee/wages seen as obstacles | Medium |
| Ben White | Defender | Arsenal | Would improve the squad but financially a stretch | Low |
| Gabriel Jesus | Striker | Arsenal | Same caution applies — wages likely prohibitive | Low |
| Nathan Aké | Defender | Manchester City | Quality obvious, price and wages probably not realistic | Low |
| Harry Wilson | Midfielder | Fulham | One mention in broader May round-up, no follow-up since | Low |
| Aaron Wan-Bissaka | Right-back | West Ham United | Named once as a possible full-back option | Low |
| Tomas Soucek | Midfielder | West Ham United | Named once, no clear pathway to a deal since | Low |
| Neco Williams | Right-back | Nottingham Forest | Named once in a list of full-back possibilities | Low |
| El Hadji Malick Diouf | Left-back | West Ham United | Named once, nothing concrete to suggest progress | Low |
| Jayden Oosterwolde | Defender | Fenerbahce | One mention among several defensive names in May | Low |
| Diego Leite | Centre-back | Union Berlin | One mention, unlikely to develop further | Low |
| Radu Dragusin | Centre-back | Tottenham Hotspur | Speculative link given limited Spurs game time | Low |
| Federico Gatti | Centre-back | Juventus | Named once among several centre-back options | Low |
| Gabriel Sara | Midfielder | Galatasaray | One mention, no signs of a concrete approach | Low |
| Issa Doumbia | Midfielder | Venezia | Speculative midfield name with little since | Low |
| Ivan Toney | Striker | Al-Ahli | Mentioned once; a Saudi return looks unlikely | Low |
| Artem Dovbyk | Striker | Roma | One mention among a long list of forward options | Low |
| Taty Castellanos | Striker | West Ham United | Named once, no real momentum since | Low |
| Alexander Sorloth | Striker | Atletico Madrid | One mention; profile and wages make this a stretch | Low |
| Santiago Castro | Striker | Bologna | Speculative forward link with no clear progress | Low |
| Jamie Leweling | Winger | Stuttgart | One mention among several wide-attacking names | Low |
| Dario Osorio | Winger | FC Midtjylland | Speculative, low-profile link with little traction | Low |
| Zuriko Davitashvili | Winger | Saint-Etienne | One mention, nothing concrete reported since | Low |
| Abdul Fatawu | Winger | Leicester City | Speculative name from the early-window round-up | Low |
| Ethan Nwaneri | Attacking midfielder | Arsenal | Arsenal have no apparent intention to sell… or loan. | Very Low |
| Myles Lewis-Skelly | Midfielder/left-back | Arsenal | Same situation — considered untouchable at the Emirates | Very Low |
Players rumoured to be leaving Everton
A separate group of names has come up this summer not as Everton targets, but as players other clubs want to take off Moyes’ hands. None of these affect Everton’s incoming business directly, but they could shape the budget and squad gaps Moyes is working with as the summer progresses.
| Player | Position | Interested club(s) | Situation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thierno Barry | Striker | RB Leipzig | Leipzig have made contact but would need to match Everton’s recoupment demands on their original outlay |
| Dwight McNeil | Winger | West Ham United | Interest confirmed, complicated by his reluctance to drop into the Championship |
| James Garner | Midfielder | Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest | Interest reignited off the back of his first England cap, before he headed to the World Cup without further involvement |
| Demi Akarakiri | Forward | Cagliari | Looks set for a permanent academy exit |
| Tim Iroegbunam | Midfielder | Hull City, Ipswich | Hull have shown interest as Everton weigh up his development pathway behind Garner and Hackney |
The big takeaway
Strip away all the noise and the picture looks fairly simple: Grealish 2.0, Hackney, Stones and Hutchinson look like real, advancing business.
Zhegrova, Vagiannidis, Mukau and now Berge sit just behind them as credible, attainable links rather than just wish-list contenders — the Fulham midfielder’s stock has risen quickly on the back of his World Cup form, and we explored why Berge could be Everton’s smartest signing of the summer after his latest display.
But everything below that — and there’s a lot — is the usual mix of agent talk, foreign-outlet filler and names that make sense on paper but have no obvious pathway to them becoming reality. Worth noting, not worth getting excited about. Yet. Maybe never.
On the outgoing side, Barry, McNeil and, even, Garner remain the names to watch most closely, while Akarakiri’s academy exit looks the most advanced of the lot. Iroegbunam’s situation is one to monitor too, with Hull’s interest a fresh test of how much faith Moyes still has in his development.
Stay with Read Everton for the latest Everton news as the transfer window develops. For wider Premier League transfer and football coverage, visit dave.sport.
