Everton transfer business will reveal future intent

The type of transfers Everton pursue – be it this month or in the summer – should reveal plenty about the direction the club wants to take.

The Blues were besieged by financial trouble before the Friedkin Group completed their purchase in 2024, so scar tissue remains from two separate points deductions. Everton need to be fiscally more efficient and that includes in the transfer market. Young players with high ceilings and sell-on value would be the sensible approach.

With the likes of Tierno Barry, Tyler Dibling and Adam Aznou, there were signs of that strategy being implemented in the summer. Whether the current manager – who is 62 and under contract until 2027 – is the man to see a long-term vision through is another matter entirely.

Some, though, will not be thinking about the future. The table is tantalising after all. And David Moyes? He wants European football next season.

If a costly immediate fix to a problem position were to present itself, the temptation to push their chips in would be real for Everton.

For any club, a stadium move and a huge turnover of players are always likely to trigger a reassessment of identity. So who – and what – are Everton going to be in their new home on the Liverpool waterfront? We are about to find out.

Take a look back over the Everton page to see more about the Toffees' crossroads in the transfer window. Today we've also ad contributions from reporter Giulia Bould and fan Briony Bragg - all of which can be seen below.