---
title: "Today’s Everton news round-up & talking points — Thursday 23rd July"
canonical: "https://readeverton.com/todays-everton-news-round-up-talking-points-thursday-23rd-july/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Gary Gowers"
section: "Everton News"
published: "2026-07-23T18:00:00Z"
modified: "2026-07-23T18:00:00Z"
---

# Today’s Everton news round-up & talking points — Thursday 23rd July

**Six stories today, running from a Villa transfer twist to some honest self-reflection on our own coverage.**

Here’s everything, and what it all adds up to.

#### Villa joins the Ndiaye race

The day opened with news that [Aston Villa have made contact over Iliman Ndiaye](https://readeverton.com/), adding competition to Manchester United’s long-standing interest. United’s move remains stalled by the Marcus Rashford situation — Villa have no such complication, and [Everton’s £70m valuation](https://www.foxsports.com/articles/soccer/because-of-the-marcus-rashford-situation-why-man-utd-are-being-prevented-from-formalising-interest-in-70m-rated-everton-playmaker-iliman-ndiaye) is about to be tested by two suitors rather than one.

#### A free agent worth watching

Elsewhere in attack, [Everton were revealed to have been approached over Dušan Vlahović](https://readeverton.com/), with the free agent’s camp making the first move rather than the other way round. Real Madrid, Newcastle and Bayern Munich are all lurking too.

#### Patience as the watchword

A wider piece looked at [Everton’s strategy at right-back and with Jack Grealish](https://readeverton.com/), both built around waiting rather than rushing — Rico Lewis the priority target, Grealish’s fee expected to soften the longer City are left needing a sale.

#### Roma complicate the fallback plan

That patience hit a snag by lunchtime. [Sister club Roma have emerged as suitors for Zakaria El Ouahdi](https://readeverton.com/), the value alternative Everton were relying on if the Lewis deal took longer than hoped.

#### A nice line from Downing Street

A welcome change of pace: [new Prime Minister Andy Burnham offered to host fellow Evertonian Mark Carney](https://readeverton.com/) at a match, confirmed via the official Number 10 readout of the call.

#### Fans losing patience — and so are we, a bit

The day closed with a harder look in the mirror. [Supporters are growing frustrated with the pace of business at Hill Dickinson Stadium](https://readeverton.com/), and we’ll admit it too — most of today has gone on reporting rumour and speculation rather than actual signings.

#### What it adds up to…

Today told two stories at once: genuine transfer interest building on multiple fronts (Ndiaye, Vlahović, Lewis), and a growing gap between that interest and anything actually getting over the line. The Roma complication is the clearest sign yet that patience carries real risk. A month remains — but today made clear why supporters are starting to ask questions.