Evertonians have had plenty of practice waiting. A 13th-placed finish, no European football to show for it, and a transfer window that has crawled along — the mood heading into this week was one of patience wearing thin.
Then, in the space of 24 hours, things started moving.
Hayden Hackney’s arrival from Middlesbrough is the biggest (and only concrete) part of it. The 24-year-old has signed a five-year deal, reportedly worth up to £24m, and arrives as the reigning Championship Player of the Season after helping Boro reach the play-off final.
“As soon as I spoke to the manager, as soon as I knew Everton were interested, to be honest, it was always going to be Everton,” Hackney said. Moyes was equally direct about the thinking behind it: “We’ve had a track record over the years of identifying players in the Championship who have gone on to do really well for us and been good investments.”
With Idrissa Gana Gueye looking likely to leave on a free after his contract expired, Hackney gives Moyes fresh competition through the middle of the pitch — competition that had thinned out by the end of last season.
It’s the sort of deal Everton fans have wanted more of: decisive, planned, and done early(ish) rather than dragged out. But it’s what’s followed that has really shifted the mood.
Lewis en route?
Reports have linked Everton with Manchester City’s Rico Lewis, with the versatile 21-year-old having fallen behind Matheus Nunes under Pep Guardiola last season. City are said to value him at around £35m and have already turned down an offer from Nottingham Forest.
It’s a name that, possibly, answers a problem that Everton have had for a while: a right-back position that was patched over with Jake O’Brien, a centre-back by trade, for long stretches of last season.
Elsewhere, talks with Stade Reims over Keito Nakamura have reportedly progressed, with the Japan winger having caught the eye during a strong World Cup. Nakamura is said to be available for around £21.5m after Reims fell short in their promotion push, and Everton are understood to be among the more advanced of the clubs circling him.
At the back, Everton are readying an approach for Atalanta’s Raoul Bellanova, with the Italy international valued at around €20m and the right-back search still very much open.
None of that is confirmed, of course. Lewis, Nakamura and Bellanova are all reported targets rather than done deals, and Everton fans have watched enough interest evaporate in past windows to know better than to celebrate too early.
There is also queue-jumping to be done: Everton face competition for Lewis from Newcastle, Sunderland, Fulham, Crystal Palace, Brentford and Brighton, while Napoli remain favourites for at least one player previously linked, Richard Ríos.
Finally… some positivity
What’s changed, or appears to have changed, is the sense of direction. Hackney’s signing was no panic buy or last-day scramble — it was the recruitment team (and Moyes) identifying a specific need and moving on it early, as he has done successfully before.
The activity that’s followed suggests a squad being built with actual positions in mind: a right-back, a winger, competition in midfield, rather than the scattergun approach that’s frustrated supporters in previous summers. But we’ll see. Evertonians have been here before.
Pre-season is closing in, and Everton’s business is far from finished. But after a summer that has, until now, felt like standing still, there’s finally something for Evertonians to get excited about.
Whether that turns into a squad capable of pushing back into the top half — and back into Europe — remains to be seen. For now, though, the mood on the blue half of Merseyside has shifted from waiting to watching.
