The international window has shut with Everton making deadline day moves for Ben Godfrey and Robin Olsen but domestic deals with Football League clubs can still be done and in truth the transfer rumour mill never stops.
Here’s a look at the latest Blues-related rumours.
Who?
Joshua King, the Bournemouth striker who has netted 50 goals in 168 outings for the Cherries.
He hit double figures twice in Premier League seasons with totals of 16 (2016/17) and 12 (2018/19) but could only find the net six times last term as their five-year stint in the top flight ended despite a 3-1 final day win at Goodison Park – Carlo Ancelotti’s first home defeat as Everton manager.
Brought up in the Romsas suburb of Oslo, the son of a Norwegian mother and Gambian father, the 28-year-old – who started his professional career at Manchester United – has been capped 50 times by Norway and has struck 17 goals at international level.
Where?
Former Premier League striker Darren Bent is convinced King should choose Everton over West Ham should the opportunity present itself.
This was his appraisal of David Moyes’ side’s reported rejected bid for King.
HITC quote him as telling talkSPORT: “If Dominic Calvert-Lewin was to go down then you do need strength in depth.
“And Joshua King has shown that he can score goals.
“I really like his ability as well. He is probably going to look at that Everton situation and go ‘I like a bit of that’. No disrespect to West Ham. But they have had two unbelievable performances.
“But Everton are absolutely flying. He will probably look at that and go ‘I want a bit of that’.”
What?
Everton have longed been linked with King and loans for Moise Kean to Paris St-Germain and Theo Walcott to Southampton do leave them looking a bit light up front if anything happens to Calvert-Lewin.
Richarlison can play up front but that obviously takes him away from the wing while the only other senior option is Cenk Tosun who has never entirely convinced and is currently still recovering from injury.
But the Blues have ruled out doing any business before the EFL deadline, and that includes the Cherries forward.
Who?
The aforementioned Moise Kean.
In many ways the world has changed so much since the Italian striker arrived at Everton in 2019 as their most-heralded signing of that summer.
Back then, Blues were excitedly hoping that their capture from Juventus – seen as quite a coup – would take the Premier League by storm while Marco Silva’s other recruits Fabian Delph, Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Alex Iwobi could become midfield mainstays.
It’s fair to say that things haven’t worked out quite as everyone would have hoped.
Although Kean’s last act in an Everton shirt to date was an impressive last-gasp strike at Fleetwood, his final game at Goodison saw him appear frustrated at not being able to get the better of Salford City’s League Two defenders and his mood appeared little improved by getting himself on the scoresheet courtesy of a late penalty.
Where?
Sport Witness cites France Football as claiming that Paris St-Germain sporting director Leonardo got a really good deal for Kean – who has joined the Ligue 1 champions on a season-long loan.
The report states there is a buying option of around €20million which is far less than what Kean’s former club Juventus had supposedly been asked for when trying to bring him back.
What?
There are surely two major elements to this tale.
Firstly, when the deal was sealed, the ECHO’s Everton correspondent Phil Kirkbride wrote : “Everton insist Kean has a future at Goodison and told PSG that the deal would be for a loan only - and the agreement would not include any option to buy the player at the end of the season.”
Secondly, if a clause was inserted, as Sport Witness themselves declare “that seems cheap” for petrodollar-fuelled PSG or indeed any other potential suitor for that matter given that Kean is still only 20 and Everton paid around £27million for the player.
