David Moyes Explores Free-Agent Market to Strengthen Everton Squad

Everton will head into the autumn looking for solutions on the training pitch and in the shadows of the transfer market, after David Moyes confirmed the club are actively scouring the pool of free agents to plug worrying gaps in his squad.

The late-window exits of Iliman Ndiaye, Beto, Tim Iroegbunam, Adam Aznou and Nathan Patterson have stripped Everton of depth in key areas. Both full-back positions are exposed. Centre-forward is down to a single senior option. For a manager talking openly about challenging “at the top end”, the squad sheet suddenly looks thin.

Free agents now represent the only way to reinforce. Players without a club can still be signed outside the window, but they must be registered before a looming cut-off, understood to be roughly a week after the deadline slammed shut. The clock has not stopped; it’s just ticking more quietly.

“We are looking at the free agents market,” Moyes said at his press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Manchester United. “I am trying to get a team that is going to be at the top end and challenge. I want the players to believe that we are moving forward – for me, that is really important.”

The message is clear: the standards he wants to set have not changed, even if the tools in his hands feel incomplete.

A window that drifted away

Everton’s window did not collapse in one dramatic moment; it frayed over the final days. Outgoings stacked up, targets slipped away, and the final hours brought more frustration than relief.

Moyes did not hide his irritation.

“Disappointed we didn’t do more business and disappointed things didn’t go our way in the end,” he admitted. “Sometimes in football you have to live with disappointment and we will move on.”

The most glaring blow came on deadline day. Folarin Balogun, identified as a major attacking addition, looked set to arrive before the deal fell apart at the medical stage. In a fanbase conditioned to expect the worst from transfer sagas, conspiracy theories practically write themselves. Moyes moved quickly to shut that down.

“It wasn’t anybody’s fault,” he said of the failed Balogun move. “It happens in football a lot. The player had a problem in his medical and that was simply it. There’s no other story behind it.”

No blame, no drama, just another deal that died on the table. The damage, though, is real: Everton are still short of firepower, and the league does not pause while they improvise a Plan B.

Thin margins, thinner squad

The immediate concern sits out wide and at the back. With only one senior option on each flank, full-back has become a high-wire act. One injury, one suspension, and the system bends out of shape.

Up front, the situation is just as stark. One senior centre-forward to carry the load of a Premier League season is a risk; to do it in a squad trying to “challenge” near the top is something closer to a gamble.

That is why the free-agent market, often treated as a bargain bin, suddenly looks like a lifeline. It rarely offers long-term answers, but it can buy time, experience, and cover. Moyes knows he needs all three.

Manchester United await on Sunday, with Everton still digesting a window that promised more than it delivered. The manager is talking about belief, about moving forward, about challenging. The table will soon show whether words can hold the line while late reinforcements are dragged through the door.

For now, the season starts with a question hanging over Goodison Park: can a team built on late improvisation really sustain the ambitions of a manager who refuses to lower the bar?