It has been an eventful transfer deadline day for Everton, with Tyrique George signing from Chelsea, but Dwight McNeil’s eleventh hour move to Crystal Palace collapsing.
The Toffees were not really expected to get up to much on deadline day.
But it’s been a day of twists and turns, with the George deal completing much later than everyone expected.
And the biggest drama involved McNeil, who looked all set to join Palace at the very end of the window after an agreement was reached.
A deal sheet was submitted, but Palace’s move for McNeil ultimately failed to materialise.
What are you now expecting from Dwight McNeil for the remainder of the season? 😫
This could only happen to Everton 😡
The feeling has been that Everton and Palace simply ran out of time.
But this is not the perspective from the Toffees.
Crystal Palace pulled out of Dwight McNeil deal in Everton’s view
According to journalist Paul Joyce, Everton’s perspective of why the McNeil deal didn’t finalise was because Palace actually pulled out.
Despite making an offer that Everton deemed acceptable, the Eagles apparently then pulled the plug.
This information is at odds with what Sky Sports reported earlier in the evening, which was that the two teams ran out of time to complete the deal.
The £20 million that Everton stood to make by selling McNeil would have been truly impressive from the recruitment team. It also would have been an amazing sell by The Friedkin Group.
But given the potential for injuries, it could be that David Moyes is slightly glad it didn’t go through.
- JOIN OTHER EVERTON FANS IN THE DEBATE: Everton transfer news TalkingPoints | Everton News
More McNeil developments likely
This is an interesting claim from Joyce, because Palace were seemingly very ready to spend that money on McNeil.
And yet it’s now being suggested that Everton feel Palace were the ones responsible for the move collapsing.
One would imagine that more developments will be coming on this particular transfer story, which has to be one of the most dramatic in recent memory.
Hopefully, McNeil will not be affected by this episode and will perhaps even use it as fuel to improve his performances on the pitch. He was clearly ready to leave, and he’ll perhaps now want to ensure Palace remain keen on him heading into the summer.
Receive a digest of our best Everton content each week direct to your mailbox
