Dominic king who is close to Moyes latest article:

Looks like doue and Delap are players Moyes wanted. Do Everton really want to be a big club? A season that ran out of steam along with quiet summer transfer window leaves fans reminiscing on glory days – now owners need to deliver In 1995 Everton beat Man Utd to lift the FA Cup, the same season they won the Charity Shield, and they have not lifted silverware since In 1995 Everton beat Manchester United to lift the FA Cup and have not lifted silverware sinceCredit: Getty Images Dominic King Dominic King Merseyside Football Reporter Published 21 August 2026 8:30am BST The question will raise heckles in Houston, Texas – home of The Friedkin Group. But on the ground in Liverpool, where the heart of the club they own beats, it is being asked by restless locals: do Everton still want to be a big club? It has been a curious summer. They have made four signings, headed by Hayden Hackney from Middlesbrough, and all possess the characteristics to flourish under David Moyes. Hackney, the Championship’s best player last season, evokes memories of deals for Tim Cahill, Joleon Lescott, Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka 20 years ago, all of whom became Everton stalwarts. Former Middlesbrough golden boy Hayden Hackney has been Everton's biggest signing in what has been a quiet summer window Former Middlesbrough golden boy Hayden Hackney has been Everton’s biggest signing in what has been a quiet summer windowCredit: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images A hangover, however, remains from the end of the last campaign. Everton were eighth at the end of March, after skewering Chelsea 3-0 on a riotous Saturday night, but ended up slithering down to 13th with seven winless games. Failing to qualify for Europe stung, hurting pride and finances. Advertisement There have been changes in the background, with Dave Reddington officially confirmed as the club’s new set-piece coach and a series of appointments in the academy, with new Under-21 and Under-18 coaches, but there has not been a piece of business that has lit a fire of excitement. Might the return of Jack Grealish do it? Perhaps. He has no future at Manchester City and loved his time at Everton, but discussions need to progress. Moyes would have loved to have been reunited with Jarrod Bowen but taking him out of West Ham proved to be impossible. Everton also have a long-term interest in Liam Delap and would state their case to him if he leaves Chelsea. Yet such has been the chatter around transfer activity, even the new Prime Minister has felt compelled to offer an observation. Andy Burnham certainly would not be alone in thinking that his beloved team are screaming out for one position to be addressed. Advertisement “The signs are good,” Burnham said earlier this month, during a conversation with the website Give Me Sport. “And I am hopeful. I believe we have got the right manager in David Moyes. David took us forward last season and we were going really well. “Perhaps the shallowness of the squad at the final analysis meant we dropped away. The new stadium on its best nights is an incredible place to be. The fundamentals are falling into place. New owners… I’m hoping they are going to put some investment in this summer. “I’m hoping Jackie Grealish will give us one more year at least because he was a joy to watch. But there is one thing that I would just ask: sign a right-back. We need a right-back! Poor old Jake O’Brien can’t do another season at right-back!” Burnham was right to identify that position and discuss squad investment – Moyes would have liked to have signed Strasbourg’s Guéla Doué by now – but the issue goes so much deeper than new arrivals or whether they can hold on to their best player, Senegal forward Iliman Ndiaye, beyond the window. Iliman Ndiaye scored 15 league goals for Everton in 2025-26 and has attracted interest from other top clubs Iliman Ndiaye scored 15 league goals for Everton in 2025-26 and has attracted interest from other top clubsCredit: Andrew Milligan/PA There is an ache from the manager, the Prime Minister and all those whose blood runs blue to see a giant reawakened from its hibernation. They have a shiny new waterfront home, they have some solid foundations, but one thing has been missing for too long: tangible success. Advertisement Since the turn of the century, Everton are the only club currently in the top four divisions of English football who have neither experienced the exhilaration of winning a trophy nor had the rush of securing a promotion. The lack of joy has long since worn thin among fans. Why should they live in the past? Last Saturday when Moyes was overseeing the warm-up ahead of the final friendly against Lille at Hill Dickinson Stadium, which ended in a 1-1 draw, a montage was played of some of the club’s greatest moments, as is the case before every home game. There was the Andy King goal that settled a Merseyside derby (1978), Andy Gray battering Bayern Munich’s defence to a pulp (1985), a howitzer from Barry Horne (1994) that was so crucial in securing the club’s safety against Wimbledon and a rocket at Anfield from Jagielka (2014). Every club must embrace its history – and Everton do it better than most – but there comes a point when a new chapter needs to be written and it feels symbolic that Crystal Palace, who have just spent 12 months on the trophy-gathering adventure of a lifetime, provide the first opposition. “Following Everton is like archaeological layers of your own biography,” explains Roger Bennett, who is the host of the hugely popular Men In Blazers podcast but, more than anything, what would be described in these parts as a “long-suffering Blue”. We talk at Hill Dickinson stadium before he hosts an intimate event for 350 guests in which new signings Hayden Hackney (from Middlesbrough) and Christian Norgaard are interviewed on stage; Bennett was born in Liverpool, moved to the US in 1994 and understands what is at stake now. “With every kick of the ball here, something resonates with the past, be it players, memories of the people you’ve watched games with,” Bennett says. “You think of friends, family, those who are not with us any more. I see images here and I think about the last Goodison Derby (February 2025) “When James Tarkowski scored, I got punched in the face by the guys behind me! They were all celebrating so much, my glasses smashed. Boom! Right in the face! It’s the greatest punch I’ve ever taken. That’s in my layer of memories – and that’s the beauty of supporting Everton. Advertisement “But no one wants mid-table. Nobody wants a season that just becomes a dead-wind. That is a human agony. The next phase, can this club become a Brentford? Can this club become like Brighton or Bournemouth?” With all due respect to those teams, who have been modern and forward-thinking, the question is: can Everton become Everton again? With their size and popularity, they should be in conversations for trophies, harbouring the hunger and ambition that Moyes imbued in them from 2004 to 2012. The Friedkin Group bought into Everton officially on December 19, 2024 and has brought stability following the years of chaos under Farhad Moshiri, when managers were sacked frequently and money was wasted liberally, but simply ticking over will not do. “They viewed [last season] as failure – because it was a failure,” Angus Kinnear, Everton chief executive, told BBC Radio Merseyside this week. “They knew we had put ourselves in a really good position. They were excited that we had put ourselves in that position. Advertisement “Most fans would have accepted that at half-time in the final home game of the season against Sunderland we would be in a Europa League spot, they would have felt it was projecting to a good season. But the Friedkins are winners. They want to win. And we didn’t win anything. “We didn’t achieve what we wanted to achieve. There has been appropriate pressure this summer to ensure that we go to the next stage and while they don’t speak publicly, 90 per cent of my conversations with them are about how do we win more football matches? “They bought Everton to win. Out of the comments and feedback we received last season, the one that hurt most was that we lacked ambition. I’m more than happy to get into a debate about mistakes that we have made but I am 100 per cent confident that this club is ambitious.” Kinnear has vast experience within sport to know that words are one thing but proving it is another. Success for the club would be revolutionary. The Friedkin Group must understand what it needs to deliver.