Keith Wyness: Everton handed key transfer boost after game-changing ‘agreement’
Everton could increase their focus on producing academy players to further improve their financial position.
That is according to ex-Everton, Aston Villa, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who is predicting what the Everton ownership will want to achieve in 2026.
The Friedkin Group recently celebrated their one-year anniversary at Everton, after taking the club over from Farhad Moshiri in December 2024.
Everton have moved into the Hill Dickinson Stadium under the ownership, and have stabilised themselves financially over the past year.
Everton have ‘platform to build on’ for the future
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes the Toffees must start producing more homegrown talent.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness thinks manager David Moyes will be wanting to add extra depth to his squad.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Well, they’ve made the academy full-time, which is interesting. Now, that means they can recruit from anywhere in the UK, I believe. Now, it is going to be important that we start seeing something coming through homegrown again, or through the academy, and getting a better quality of talent.
“We did have to sell a crop because of PSR issues, so we’ve got to replenish that crop now, and we’re not going to have that same financial pressure. So we’ve really got to start seeing some talent coming through from the academy. That’s crucial.
“And the whole squad itself. We’ve got to get some more depth, and they’ve got to solve the goals issue. That’s going to be the focus, but now we’ve got a platform to build on which we didn’t have before and certainly, as I say, these are all nice problems to have rather than very serious ones that we were facing before.”
Jack Grealish update emerges
One of Everton’s ambitions next year will be to keep Man City loanee Jack Grealish at the club on a permanent basis.
It has been revealed that Grealish could join Everton next summer for £20million, when the 30-year-old will be in the final year of his contract with Man City.
The midfielder has contributed two goals and four assists in 16 Premier League appearances this season for Everton.