- Everton are preparing a £18m-£20m offer for Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda
- Crystal Palace have gazumped Everton’s latest Hackney bid with a £20m offer
- Grealish’s loan expires in 19 days — and still no deal on the table
It is early afternoon on Merseyside and there is already plenty to get through. Here is everything happening in the Everton world today.
Ueda: From monitoring to offer
The biggest development of the morning is the Ayase Ueda story finally moving somewhere. SportsBoom are reporting that Everton are now the most concrete candidate for the Feyenoord striker, with the club preparing an offer in the region of £18m-£20m. Feyenoord want closer to €30m-€35m, so the gap is real – but the direction of travel is encouraging. Read Everton published a full profile on Ueda this morning if you want to know more about who he actually is and why Moyes is so keen.
Brighton and Leeds are also in the mix, so nobody should be popping any corks just yet. But Everton are leading the race. For now.
Hackney: The same old story and it needs to stop
This one is becoming genuinely painful to watch. Everton have made two approaches for Hayden Hackney – £12m first, then £15m – and have been knocked back both times. Middlesbrough want £25m. For the Championship Player of the Season, 23 years old, with a year left on his contract and half the Premier League queuing up outside his door, that is not greed. That is just the market.
And now Crystal Palace have rocked up with a £20m offer, according to the Daily Mail. They have Europa League football to offer next season. Everton do not.
Hackney is on record as preferring Everton. That goodwill will not last forever. The pattern here – spot the target, lowball, watch a rival walk past – is one that Blues have seen too many times before. Middlesbrough are not asking for the earth. Just get it done.
Grealish: Nineteen days and the clock is getting louder
Nothing fresh this morning beyond what we already know – Maresca won’t stand in his way, the fee is in the right territory, the wages are the sticking point. But with the loan expiring on June 30, this needs to stop drifting. Read Everton published a full piece this morning on exactly what Grealish gives Moyes that nobody else in this squad currently offers. Worth five minutes of your time if you haven’t read it.
PSR: The Burnley ruling and what it means
If you somehow missed this yesterday, Burnley have been awarded £26m in damages plus £9.1m in interest following a compensation claim over Everton’s 2021-22 PSR breach. Everton have appealed, calling the ruling “fundamentally flawed in both law and fact.” Read Everton has two pieces on this today – one unpacking the club’s statement line by line, and one asking the question that every Blue is thinking: how many times must this Everton keep paying for what the last lot did?
One to watch: Mystery midfielder
Briefly, Newcastle World are reporting this morning that an unnamed midfielder has put out a come-and-get-me plea, with both Newcastle and Everton among those considering a move. No name attached yet, but one to keep half an eye on as the afternoon develops.
We will update this piece if anything significant breaks before close of play.
