Everton — what to expect
Squad gaps, expiring contracts and how much room the books leave for spending. Refreshed automatically as Companies House filings and squad data update.
Losing Jack Grealish hurts, but it's the shape of what he leaves behind that's the real problem. Everton's forward line now carries 7 players on paper, yet the summer already saw Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Youssef Chermiti both depart. What's left is thin on proven Premier League quality up top, and with Grealish now gone, creativity in the final third has taken a serious hit.
Midfield looks adequately stocked at 7, and the back line's 8 defenders gives some cover. The goalkeeping unit at 3 is fine. The real concern is forward depth with actual weight to it. Tyrique George is a recent arrival and Harrison Armstrong only just came through the door. Neither carries the experience needed to lead the line week in, week out.
The contract situation adds pressure. Séamus Coleman expires in June 2026, he's been a one-club servant and his exit feels close now. Idrissa Gueye, also out of contract next summer, has been a useful midfield option but he's 35 and a renewal seems unlikely. Merlin Röhl, who only arrived on a fresh deal in July 2026, should be secure. The club needs to make decisions on Coleman and Gueye quickly to avoid losing both for nothing.
The finances leave very little room. Everton's wage bill sits at £152m against a turnover of £196.7m, a wages-to-turnover ratio of 77.3%. That's uncomfortably high. Net debt stands at £389.4m, and the club posted a loss of £8.6m in the period to June 2025. Big fees are essentially off the table. Any business done will need to be structured carefully, leaning on loans, free transfers, or sell-to-buy logic.
Given all that, the priority signing is straightforward: an experienced striker available on a free or heavily subsidised loan. Not a project, not a youngster with potential. Someone who can start games, hold the line, and take the pressure off George and Armstrong while they develop. Everton haven't got the budget to fix every hole, but a functional No.9 would do more than anything else to stabilise what's become a genuinely threadbare attack.
Squad shape
- Goalkeepers3
- Defenders8
- Midfielders8
- Forwards7
Out of contract within 12 months
- Tyler Onyango midfielder 2026-06-30
- Séamus Coleman defender 2026-06-30
- Idrissa Gueye midfielder 2026-06-30
- Jack Grealish attacker 2026-06-30
- Merlin Röhl midfielder 2026-06-30
- Tyrique George attacker 2026-06-30
- Tim Iroegbunam midfielder 2027-06-30
- Beto attacker 2027-06-30
- Carlos Alcaraz midfielder 2027-06-30
- Nathan Patterson defender 2027-06-30
- Vitaliy Mykolenko defender 2027-06-30
- Michael Keane defender 2027-06-30
Finance headroom
- Turnover
- £197m
- Wage bill
- £152m
- Wages / turnover
- 77.3%
- Net debt
- £389m
- As at
- 2025-06-30
How this guide is put together
Squad counts come from the live first-team list pulled from Sportmonks. Contract dates are the registration end-dates filed by clubs through the football authorities. Finance figures are the latest audited accounts at Companies House.
The narrative paragraphs are written by Claude from that data, with a strict instruction not to invent figures. Editorial overrides any auto-generated piece — if you're an editor and the take needs work, drop a manual rewrite into window_guide_text meta on the team post.