Everton: From European hopes to relegation form - will Moyes reignite Toffees?
For much of last season, Everton were looking up.
Loan signing Jack Grealish proved to be an instant hit. Fellow new arrival Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was a reliable matchwinner. Strikers Thierno Barry and Beto had shrugged off early-season struggles to start scoring goals.
A 3-0 triumph against Chelsea on 21 March put Everton eighth in the Premier League, just three points off the Champions League places with seven games left.
Supporters were dreaming big. Instead, the team imploded.
Everton failed to win any of their remaining matches - the longest run without a victory since David Moyes returned for a second spell in charge of the Toffees in 2025.
A 2-2 draw at Brentford on 11 April sparked a decline in form over the remainder of the campaign that ranked Everton in the bottom three during that period.
They were one of only three teams to fail to win a match during this spell, along with relegated Burnley and Wolves.
Despite the drop off, Everton retained hopes of European football when they faced Sunderland in their final home match of 2025-26.
In his program notes, Everton CEO Angus Kinnear declared that he was "happily dissatisfied" with the campaign - an odd turn of phrase at a confusing moment that quickly soured after a 3-1 defeat.
Promoted Sunderland would go on to finish seventh and secure European football for the first time in 53 years.
The irony for Moyes is that Everton have finished 13th in both seasons since his return, but to very different receptions.
When he rejoined the club 18 months ago, the Toffees were one point above the relegation zone. They would go on to finish 23 points clear of the bottom three.
Everton then spent £97m before the 2025-26 campaign - a club record net outlay in a summer transfer window - to repeat the same finish having accrued one more point.
Former Everton midfielder Leon Osman believes after a chaotic period of financial breaches, points deductions and relegation battles, successive mid-table finishes demonstrate progress.
"When David Moyes first came in, we flew out the blocks and had a great start," he said. "That continued for well over a year before the first sort of low period, which was the end of last season.
"I still feel that we made progress last season, which is what we wanted, along with stability."
Moyes, 63, has spoken of the challenge of keeping up with the biggest spenders in the Premier League, with Everton ranking 15th of the current top-flight teams for net spend over the past five years.
Bournemouth, however, spent the least of any Premier League team last summer, making a profit of £81m from player sales, and still finished seven places higher in sixth. Brighton made a profit of £41m and finished eighth.
Moving to the state-of-the-art Hill Dickinson Stadium promised a new dawn but Everton's points-per-game tally of 1.2 at home last season was the lowest by any team to start life in a new stadium in the Premier League in the competition's history - in stark comparison to strong away form which ranked the Toffees in the top seven.
Osman believes Bournemouth and Brighton are "further along in their development" than an Everton side still adjusting to new surroundings after a tumultuous period, and that the loss of Grealish to injury in January was key.
Everton's win rate dropped from 45% and 1.6 points per game with Grealish to 22% and one point per game without him.
"David Moyes is an intense manager and by the end of the season, a small squad couldn't quite last," said the 45-year-old.
"Changes take time. No one is thinking about relegation which shows you what Moyes has done. He's got 12 months remaining and I'd expect him to see that out."
Jack Grealish provided six assists in 22 Premier League games for Everton last season before his campaign was ended by injury
While the success of Bournemouth and Brighton has been built on impressive recruitment models, Everton's transfer strategy remains a work in progress.
Under previous owner Farhad Moshiri, eight players signed for at least £20m left for nothing.
Following several years of limited spending, nine players were then recruited by the Friedkin Group last summer, although a focus on youth has yet to bear fruit.
Grealish and Dewsbury-Hall have been successful but 20-year-old winger Tyler Dibling has started only six matches after costing £35m from Southampton.
Young left-back Adam Aznou, who joined from Bayern Munich last summer, is still awaiting his Premier League debut.
Striker Barry, 23, won more aerial duels than any other player in his first Premier League campaign but was inconsistent in front of goal.
Midfielder Merlin Rohl, 24, initially struggled for game time before impressing over four starts in May.
BBC Radio Merseyside reporter Giulia Bould says the influential Grealish is set to re-sign on loan towards the end of this window as he continues to rehabilitate from a stress fracture to his foot.
His wages, however, are expected to stick at about £200,000 per week.
Iliman Ndiaye, meanwhile, has been linked with a move to Saudia Arabia.
"I'd welcome Grealish back but only at a price that suits Everton," says Osman, who was given his Everton debut by Moyes during the manager's first spell in charge in 2003.
"Ndiaye, I'd hate to lose him. There may come a point that the price is right and Everton can reinvest in two or three players but I think they should do everything they can to keep him."
Losing elite quality without sensible reinvestment is not something Everton can afford with one of the Premier League's smaller squads.
Moyes used just 22 players in the top flight in 2025-26 - the lowest of any side - while 128 substitutions were at least six fewer than any other manager.
Everton continue to focus a significant slice of their recruitment on development players.
Central midfielder Hayden Hackney, 24, joined from Middlesbrough for £16.5m in July along with 20-year-old winger Tyrique George, who was signed from Chelsea for £18m having spent the second half of last season on loan at Everton.
The more experienced Celtic defender Alistair Johnston is the latest player linked with solving the problem position at right-back, while 32-year-old Arsenal midfielder Christian Norgaard is reportedly an imminent arrival.
The average age of signings in Moyes' second spell is under 24, including three players aged 20 or younger.
But players aged 21 or under featured for 1,088 minutes for the club last season, ranking Everton only 17th in the Premier League.
The departures of Seamus Coleman and Idrissa Gueye deprive Everton of more than 600 Premier League appearances - explaining the interest in Norgaard - while key midfielder James Garner is set to miss the start of the season following groin surgery.
As things stand, it leaves Moyes in the paradoxical position of being potentially reliant on younger players he appears more reluctant to trust.
"They need to show they're capable and deserve to play," added Osman.
"I'm hoping that a year in, understanding the demands that are required, players like Dibling and George will make that progression and then suddenly our squad looks more trustworthy."