Maeda, Keita and a summer rebuild reaching its midpoint — where each story stands after a busy Thursday in our daily Everton talking points piece.
Maeda’s market gets crowded
Everton’s interest in Daizen Maeda now has company. Fulham and Brentford have entered the race for the Celtic striker, according to Football Insider, joining Everton and Nottingham Forest in what now appears to be an open contest for the 28-year-old.
Maeda wants out of Celtic Park this summer, and the Hoops are reportedly keen to bank a fee before his contract enters its final year. The numbers make the interest easy to understand — 17 goals and 10 assists last season, following 33 the year before, plus a World Cup goal for Japan against Sweden.
He’d add pace to a forward line still waiting on Christian Kofane’s move to be resolved, but two more Premier League suitors mean Everton can no longer treat this as a straight fight with Forest.
Keita, Spence and Grealish — three deals moving
Three separate stories shifted on Thursday. Aston Villa have made Mandela Keita a priority target following Amadou Onana’s ACL injury at the World Cup, per TEAMtalk, and are reportedly moving ahead of both Leeds and Everton. Villa’s Champions League football is a strong card to play against a club offering no European football next season.
A number has also emerged for Djed Spence. Everton are prepared to pay £25m for the Tottenham right-back, with Spurs said to be open to a sale as competition increases under Roberto De Zerbi. Nothing is expected to move while Spence remains with England at the World Cup.
Jack Grealish’s return looks less straightforward than it did a fortnight ago. New City boss Enzo Maresca wants to personally assess him in pre-season before sanctioning any exit — a step back from the “confident” framing Everton had been using. Grealish’s own preference is unchanged, but the decision isn’t his to make… unfortunately.
Assessing Moyes’ rebuild at the halfway point
Four deals are done — Hayden Hackney and Tyrique George the headline arrivals, Arthur Barratt and a permanent Merlin Rohl adding depth. Several more remain live, Keita now complicated by Villa’s interest, the right-back search still unresolved after six names across ten weeks. Kofane’s formal offer to Bayer Leverkusen is the most forward-looking piece of business in progress.
Three cases remain genuinely uncertain: Grealish’s Everton return (as mentioned above), Iliman Ndiaye’s future amid persistent Man United interest, and Idrissa Gana Gueye’s exit, which appears close to being confirmed.
Moyes talked last season about building a squad capable of sustaining a European push rather than treating it as a one-off. Judged against that, the summer so far is sensible but not sensational — and the next fortnight, with pre-season friendlies soon generating their own news, looks decisive.
A kind(ish) September on the fixture list
Away from the transfer market, Everton’s opening weeks have taken shape. The Premier League has moved the trip to Crystal Palace to Sunday 6 September (2pm) and the visit to Tottenham to Monday 21 September (8pm), both selected for live TV.
Small print, but it hands Moyes extra recovery time after the international break and longer preparation before what’s expected to be one of the toughest away trips of the opening months. It may help. It may not.
