Everton hold the advantage in race to sign £50m star

Everton suffered a poor, lumbering finish to the 2025/26 campaign, and David Moyes knows that improvements are needed.

Easier said than done. The transfer market has not been a happy hunting ground for the Toffees over the past decade, on the whole, but this is a chance to kick on after stabilising under the Scotsman.

Glass half full: Everton finished mid-table in the Premier League last season, comfortably away from the relegation dogfight. Glass half empty: Everton finished mid-table, their European ambitions shattered by a startling end-of-season slump.

Right-backs and central defenders have been targeted, pragmatic but important areas; however, the fans are desperate for fresh forwards to re-energise the team, and they have a point.

Everton make formal approach for English forward

Everton need to strengthen in attack, and while the wolves are circling for Iliman Ndiaye, Moyes and company are determined to keep the stylish Senegalese winger at the club.

But they will need to prove to the 26-year-old that they can match his ambitions, and signing new attackers – such as Jack Grealish – will assist in that.

Grealish spent the 2024/25 season on loan with Everton, but has since returned to the Etihad Stadium. Now, they are exploring a move to bring him back, though they will not meet the £50m purchase option that Manchester City inserted into last summer’s deal.

As per Football Insider, it’s West Ham United captain Jarrod Bowen who has emerged as Everton’s top attacking target this summer, potentially available now that the Hammers have been relegated.

In fact, the Friedkin Group are already spearheading an initial move for Bowen, growing in confidence that West Ham are resigned to his departure this summer – for the right price.

Bowen, 29, will not come cheap, even amid his omission from Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad, with West Ham considering his base value at £50m.

Aston Villa are also interested, and while they have Champions League football to offer the England winger, the Moyes factor could hold sway for Everton, with the report outlining that the Toffees ‘could hold an advantage in talks’ due to that ‘pre-existing relationship’.

Why Bowen can be Everton’s next Grealish

Grealish, 30, hasn’t played for Everton since January, sidelined with a foot injury. However, the English maverick made quite the impact when first arriving at the Hill Dickinson last summer, joining from Manchester City on a season-long loan.

But Moyes saw what first-class talent can do to this Everton team, and Bowen could not only match but surpass his countryman’s impact on Merseyside next season.

Could Bowen emerge as Everton’s new Grealish? He certainly has the Premier League and European experience to emerge as a talisman.

Across six years at West Ham, Bowen has scored 85 goals and supplied 63 assists across 280 appearances, and you could even say that he outperformed Grealish last season.

Bowen is a direct and dangerous winger, a natural right sider but with plenty of experience as a makeshift centre-forward too. For West Ham last season, he scored a hatful, but assisted many goals too.

He is quietly unpredictable, even matching Grealish for combative and physical metrics. You can see why he did so well for Moyes at the London Stadium, crowning that era with the winning goal in the Conference League final.

Analyst Raj Chohan has actually described him as being “similar to [Mohamed] Salah“, curling inside from the right and breaking backlines open with ferocious strikes and artful assists.

There’s no question that Bowen is among the top wingers in the Premier League, and while he’s something of a veteran nowadays, Moyes could repeat his own trick by bringing him over, emulating that Grealish deal that started off to such a flyer last season.

Grealish is more of a magical player, more sparkly and creative on the ball. Still, Bowen operates with an economy of movement that lends itself to high output in the final third.

Despite West Ham’s determination to keep onto their focal point in attack, Bowen is no spring chicken, and is undoubtedly good enough to keep thriving in the Premier League. Everton could give him the perfect lifeline, reuniting him with his old boss.

He is, after all, a “legend of a player” for the Hammers, according to pundit Michael Owen, someone who understands what makes Moyes’ system tick. Bowen could be a fantastic summer signing, but with Aston Villa also with a vested interest of their own, Everton need to act swiftly.