David Moyes has confirmed Everton are exploring the free agent market after a turbulent summer transfer window which has left the Toffees sapped of strength and depth.
It’s undeniably concerning that Everton have such a shortage of first-team options. To illustrate the conundrum, owners the Friedkin Group green-lit five departures on deadline day, only bringing in Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Jack Grealish.
However, Moyes is used to working with a small squad. Last season, the Toffees fielded fewer players than any other club in the Premier League.
|
Fewest Players Used in the Premier League (25/26) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
League Rank |
Club |
Players Used |
|
16th |
Brentford |
17 |
|
16= |
Fulham |
17 |
|
16= |
Leeds |
17 |
|
16= |
Liverpool |
17 |
|
20th |
Everton |
16 |
Still, Everton need more across a number of positions – and recent events show it’s all the more crucial that supporters spoke up and prevented the Β£40m sale of academy midfielder Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest in a Β£40m deal.
Why it was so important that Everton kept hold of Armstrong
Armstrong spent the first half of the 2025/26 season on loan in the Championship with Preston North End. He excelled, hailed by Lilywhites fans for his technicality. They said he “will play for England one day“.
The 19-year-old played a bit-part role in the Premier League following his January recall, but there can be no doubting his potential as an elite midfielder, and Moyes has started him in each of Everton’s top-flight fixtures so far this season.
Β£40m would have been good money for a relatively untested talent, but the importance of rebuffing Forest’s advances speaks of something more fundamental. The Evertonian voice was heard – loud and clear.
Against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, the Toffees sang and bellowed. “Don’t sell Armstrong,” they chanted, hoping their cries would be heard. They were, and Armstrong remains, sure to play a big part over the course of the season.
That said, he hasn’t been flawless over the first few weeks of the season, and while Everton lack a surplus of choice in the centre of the park, Everton’s “answer to Steven Gerrard“, as he has been described by correspondent Chris Beesley, may be ousted for another emerging midfield star next time out in the Premier League.
Everton’s new Ross Barkley could replace Armstrong
Once upon a time, Ross Barkley was touted by the likes of former Everton defender Mark Hughes to become Merseyside’s new version of Gerrard – this time, wearing blue.
That didn’t happen. Perhaps, all those years ago, the veteran Aston Villa midfielder should have remained at Goodison Park after all. He’s still been missed over the years, though – a powerful and technically astute midfielder, skilled across different roles.
Now, it looks like Hayden Hackney could emerge as the second coming of the England international. An adopted son, Hackney signed for the Blues in a Β£25m deal this summer, leaving Middlesbrough with a boosted reputation after being named the 2025/26 Championship Player of the Year.
Hackney occupies deeper spaces in midfield than Barkley did during his energetic Everton days, but that’s not to say he doesn’t know how to score a goal. He bagged five of them in the Championship last year, missing only one big chance. When he picks his moment, he does so with precision.
There is a superstar midfielder in there, and in that, he could emulate Barkley at Everton, bound to attract attention from the Premier League’s biggest hitters down the line.
You could see it when Tyrique George rifled past Senne Lammens at the weekend, restoring parity for Everton against Manchester United. It was Hackney who collected, weaved, spun, delivered. He had only replaced Merlin Rohl moments before, but the impetus and creative energy he pumps forward cannot be understated, and it’s clear Everton have a potential star under their wing.
He’s not flawless, but he changed the game against the Red Devils. Always looking to push play forward and make things happen, he is exactly what Everton have been crying out for, adding a difference-making dimension of the kind that is reimiscent of Barkley during those giddy early days as he burst onto the scene with his boyhood club.
In many ways, the homegrown Armstrong would argue that he is the next Barkley on Merseyside. Perhaps he is, but there’s no question that Hackney is the more polished man right now, and for the immediate future at least, he could take that crown.
