Everton are keen to add quality to their attacking ranks this summer transfer window.
David Moyes is in the market for a winger and has drawn up a list of transfer targets both domestically and abroad.
Takefuso Kubo is on Moyes’ radar after a number of impressive seasons in La Liga with Real Sociedad, who value him at around £30m.
West Bromwich Albion’s Tom Fellows is also being tracked by Everton, as is Liverpool’s jet-heeled wideman Ben Doak.
Another one of Everton’s winger targets was actually praised by Pele when he was younger and here’s the story behind that.
Pele praised Everton target Omari Hutchinson as a child
Everton are exploring a deal to sign Omari Hutchinson from Ipswich Town, who value the left-footed attacker at around £40m.
Hutchinson, speaking back in March 2024, explained that Pele was impressed by his skills at a tournament hosted by Brentford when he was a child.
“We were playing at Brentford’s training ground and you had the likes of Bayern Munich, Chelsea, a lot of the top teams from across the world there,” the Ipswich Town winger explained.
“After the tournament finished, they gathered everyone together and picked one player from each team to showcase their skills.
“Everyone at Arsenal was shouting my name to go forward so I did a few skills. And Pele said a few nice words to me and let me sit on his knee. We then took a group photo with him.
“My grandmother Gloria is a huge fan of Pele. She loved him to bits so for me to see him and rest on his knee was a dream come true for her. She used to get me a lot of Pele posters, books, stuff like that to hang around my wall.
“My grandmother is always tuned into my football and printing off photos for me. But Pele was my hero growing up. I used to watch a lot of Santi Cazorla, Neymar and Messi.”
Hutchinson also wanted by Brentford
Everton aren’t alone in their Hutchinson interest, as Brentford actually submitted a £35m bid for the England under-21 international earlier this week.
That’s according to Fabrizio Romano, who reports the Championship outfit weren’t satisfied by the structure of the deal and have therefore upped his price to £40m, with his release clause now out of date.
The former Arsenal and Chelsea youngster is keen on joining the Bees, but perhaps if Everton launched a proposal, he’d be more tempted to join the exciting project up in Merseyside.
Brentford have lost manager Thomas Frank and Manchester United are hopeful of signing their best player Bryan Mbeumo, so they’re being tipped to be in a relegation battle.
The Toffees, on the other hand, have aspirations of pushing for Europe in the coming seasons, so they will be a very attractive proposition for many this summer, as evinced by Thierno Barry’s arrival.
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