Some supporters have expressed their concern about the direction of travel under David Moyes, but Everton do appear to be avoiding one key mistake he and West Ham United made.
The Toffees continue their preparations for the 2026/27 season, with the first friendly having been played last weekend.
Everton won 4-0 against Dundee at Dens Park, and it was a useful exercise in terms of getting minutes in players’ legs.
Just focusing on Everton’s right-back search, who should the club bring in this summer and why? 🤔
From Spence, to White, to Norton-Cuffy, there have been links to so many players so far…
But it was a chance for David Moyes to get a look at some of the younger players, of whom there are quite a lot now.
And that is something to be celebrated, and it’s also something to suggest that Moyes has changed his ways and that Everton are not going to make the same mistake as West Ham.
Everton’s investment in youth is a good sign
Moyes may have been a bit reluctant to use younger players last season, but the fact there are so many is really positive.
Everton have brought in Tyrique George, Tyler Dibling, Adam Aznou, Merlin Rohl and Hayden Hackney on Moyes’ watch so far.
And the club could yet add Konstantinos Karetsas, although competition for the Greek talent is very strong.
But Everton’s approach to transfers is refreshingly different to what West Ham’s was when Moyes was at the helm there.
During his second spell at the club, Moyes brought in nine players who were aged 28 or older.
That rather set the pattern for West Ham, who continued to splash out on players who were older, like Niclas Fullkrug, Guido Rodriguez, Wes Foderingham, Adama Traore and Callum Wilson.
West Ham made these signings without much long-term thinking going into what they were doing.
They arguably didn’t move for players who would thrive long after Moyes, and they were risks in terms of what would happen if they did not deliver.
But Everton have arguably not made that mistake. The likes of George, Dibling and Hackney all have the potential to become genuinely top players, and the next manager after Moyes will have plenty of promising players to develop.
We have seen what’s happened to West Ham as a result of their short-sighted recruitment.
They have had to pivot in recent times, but it was too little, too late and the club were relegated at the end of 2025/26.
As James Tarkowski recently said, Everton are building a squad of potentially elite players, and hopefully it’ll be one that the next manager after Moyes can do great things with when it starts to really bear fruit.
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