Everton

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Everton and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford says he is "really pleased" for his club-mate Nathan Paterson after the defender featured for Scotland in their World Cup win over Haiti.

Patterson has had a torrid time struggling for form and fitness at Everton over the past few years, only starting three Premier League games in each of the past two seasons.

However, the 24-year-old came on for the last 15 minutes as Scotland secured a vital three points in their World Cup opener.

"You've played with or against a lot of the lads," Pickford told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.

"It's been so long for them but you see the emotion and how much it meant for them to get that result.

"I'm really pleased for Patto. Over the last few months at Everton, he's grafted and worked hard, even though he didn't really get his chance. But, he still put the hard work in and he's now made his debut in the World Cup.

"Stuff like that does put a smile on your face."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Manchester City have set their sights on Everton centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite, 23, as a replacement for the departing John Stones, 32, but the Toffees want £70m for the England defender. (Football Insider, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

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We asked for your views on who you think Everton should keep, loan and sell.

Here are some of your comments:

Alan: Keep- Tyler Dibling and play him. Loan - Tim Iroegbunam and bring in Hayden Hackney. Hackney looks ready for the Premier League, but Tim lacks consistency. Sell - Dwight McNeil. He's been a solid worker but we need a star. Crysencio Summerville perhaps?

Alex: Keep - Tyrique George. He should be given proper, consistent playing time. He's a huge talent and has shown this when he actually gets on the pitch. Loan - Tyler Dibling. He needs games. David Moyes either needs to loan him out or play him. Keeping him on the bench is clearly not working for him - he doesn't play with any confidence at all when he actually gets on the pitch. Sell - Thierno Barry needs to be sold ASAP - he never has and never will be Premier League quality.

Paul: Keep - Jack Harrison and play him. Loan - Adam Aznou out so he gets game time. Sell - Barry, he's not Premier League standard.

Chris: Keep - Merlin Rohl. He was fantastic against Aston Villa away and then never played as a box-to-box midfielder again for the rest of the season. Had us all scratching our heads. Bright future. Keep and play him more. Loan - Tyler Dibling. Needs game time. Won't get it with players ahead of him. £40m investment, the lad needs to play and develop to not lose all the money spent on him. Sell - This is hard as he's young and I don't like judging young players before they fully develop, but Barry looks well short of the quality required at Premier League level. He has also alienated himself from the fans with his social media account. Cut losses and sell.

Cian: Keep - Everton should keep Idrissa Gueye. Loan - Aznou, so he can have some game time. Sell - Iliman Ndiaye because he is rubbish and has the wrong attitude.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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Everton remain in pole position for Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney.

The Toffees have had two approaches rejected by Boro, who value the 23-year-old at around £20m.

Crystal Palace are also interested but Hackney currently favours a move to Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Nothing has developed since Everton's second approach while the club are also considering other midfield options.

Hackney has a year left on his contract at the Riverside after rejecting a £20m move to Ipswich last summer.

The England Under-21 international, part of the squad which won Euro 2025 last summer, was happy to stay at Boro and did not want to move to another Championship side.

Nottingham Forest also had an approach turned down late in the winter window in February.

Academy graduate Hackney has made 154 appearances for Boro, scoring 16 goals.

The third episode of BBC Radio Merseyside's A to Z of Everton focuses on the letter C, specifically goalscoring fan-favourite Tim Cahill, the late great Kevin Campbell and a more recent Toffees hero Seamus Coleman.

Australia legend Cahill made over 200 appearances for Everton - scoring more than 50 goals - and he will always be remembered for his quick jabs of the Goodison Park corner flag after putting the ball in the back of the net

Speaking about Cahill's time at Everton, BBC Radio Merseyside's Ian Kennedy said: "He scored over 50 goals for Everton. When you think about it now, it was £1.5m from Millwall, it seems like a bargain these days and over 100 caps for Australia. And he was a fan-favourite.

"I remember his goal celebration was classic when he would go to the corner flag. He was a diminutive player in a way but he could get up and was great in the air. He was one of Everton's star players in that period in the 2000s into the early 2010s. Great player, a good goal scorer for Everton."

BBC Radio Merseyside's Carl Woodward added: "People call players 'legends' quite easily these days but I think he is a legend at Everton. He didn't win anything but he was that good for Everton. His knack of getting into goalscoring positions from midfield was brilliant. He could play up front at times but the way he got into the box, ghosted in, he scored some great headers.

"I remember him scoring a few great goals for Australia as well in tournaments. He was one of those players like the David Platts who'd go in from midfield and get on the end of a cross. He scored some vital goals for Everton and he was loved."

Listen to the full episode above or on BBC Sounds

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David Downie from The Blue Room podcast believes Idrissa Gana Gueye is "still a crucial player for Everton", despite the midfielder being 36-years-old.

Gueye is out of contract at the end of June, but the Toffees have offered him a new deal.

"How old he is is the first thing people point out about him," said Downie to BBC Radio Merseyside. "He's 36 now, and Seamus Coleman has just left at a similar age so you'd think they were of a similar ilk.

"I think he's still a crucial player for Everton, whether you like it or not.

"If he's still going to be in the starting XI then it is a concern because we haven't found a natural successor to him. There is a variety of midfield players there that David Moyes could look at.

"I think he will sign a new contract. But if you were to say to me he'll play in excess of 15 games then I would be concerned, because he did tail off considerably last season.

"If he is the go-to central defensive player under Moyes, then there is going to be a serious problem at Everton that they will need to sort.

"That probably starts the conversation around how much do Everton need to spend [in this transfer window]? Do you look at him and think 'we can get another season out of him,' or are they looking at him as a squad player and will go out and buy somebody who is the younger version of him?

"It's quite the predicament. I think it's important he stays on as a squad player and Everton utilize him."

Listen to the conversation on BBC Sounds here

BBC Radio Merseyside's Giulia Bould has explained why the same panel from Everton's original financial breaches ruling in 2023 - which handed out an immediate 10-point deduction that was later reduced - has been used to carry out the latest punishment to pay Burnley £35m.

Bould explained: "It has caused upset. When Everton took that to appeal, it wasn't reduced, it was changed. The second panel reheard all the evidence and decided it wasn't a 10-point deduction, it was a six-point deduction, and they were pretty critical of the sanctioning policy used by the [first] panel - and it's the same panel that has heard this case.

"I'm told the rules are that as they heard the case originally about Everton's PSR breach, they had to be brought back to listen to this one with Burnley.

"Everton believe they've already had the point deduction that also saw them have a financial penalty because they dropped down league placings as well - each league placing is worth around £2.6m.

"So they've already seen a sporting sanction and they've also had a financial penalty. In effect, they see this as double jeopardy where they're being done again for something they have already been punished for."

Listen to the full conversation about the ruling above or on BBC Sounds

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Change is inevitable at football clubs during the summer months and we want to ask you something specific about Everton's squad.

Tell us:

• One player who has been on the fringes who should be kept and why?

• One player who should be loaned out

• One player who should be sold

We would love names and reasons for all three - get in touch with your views using this form.

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We asked for your views on whether Idrissa Gana Gueye should stay at Everton after the club confirmed talks are ongoing with the midfielder.

Here are some of your comments:

Anton: I wouldn't be actively looking to lose players from an already-thin squad,but it mostly depends on what game-time Gueye is looking for. He's not getting any younger but, if he feels he can still start the majority of matches, then a decision needs to be made, especially if we can (should) bring in Hayden Hackney to partner James Garner. Gueye's been a very good servant over his two spells and his experience is important, but maybe it could be time to thank him and move on.

Colin: He's playing well, that's all that matters. He was a mainstay last season and has a role to play next season.

Chris: Need a bigger squad anyway so give him another year - it's a no brainer. He might not be a starter but we need more options.

Steve: We should keep Gueye for another year. We missed him so much when he left. Give Tim Iroegbunam the chance to grow as his replacement. Also, why are we letting Roman Dixon leave when we need a right back and that is where he plays? Get the recruitment strategy sorted!

Marko: In regards to Idrissa Gueye renewing his contract with Everton FC, as one of the most experienced and capable players in the squad I would like to see him extend his stay. I think he would make a good captain for this season at least.

Phil: If we can buy Hackney and another young midfielder, no.

Jeff: Everton should have never taken him back and now they should not give him a new contract. We need to rebuild the team with young players who are an example for all our fans.

Manchester United are monitoring Everton's 26-year-old Senegal forward Iliman Ndiaye as they look to bolster their squad for a Champions League return next season (Sky Sports), external

Crystal Palace are preparing to rival Everton for Middlesbrough's English midfielder Hayden Hackney, 23, this summer with a £20m offer. (Mail), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

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This is the single biggest claim made by one club against another in Premier League history.

Four years on from being deducted points for breaching PSR rules, Everton continue to be punished for those indiscretions.

There is a feeling that the latest ruling makes it a triple jeopardy for one single sanction - the points deduction they received at the time, the financial implications of merit money reducing by dropping down the table and now this claim from Burnley.

Everton's hierarchy have reacted with astonishment at the panel's decision to award this compensation claim to the Clarets and feel the judgement is flawed and one that is hugely excessive.

While this took place on the watch of former owner Farhad Moshiri, the Friedkin Group are now having for fork out significant sum of money for the claim against the football club, and it is not known whether any contingencies were put in place to claim the sum back from the Iranian's business.

Nevertheless, it is understood this ruling has no impact on the current ownership's transfer plans for the summer or direction of the club. In fact, sources have said it will embolden them to drive Everton forward and back towards the top echelons of the Premier League.

There is a feeling, though, that the amount awarded is grossly unfair in comparison to the £10m fine handed to Chelsea in March after they admitted making £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents and the £5.5m punishment given to West Ham in 2007 over the transfers of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

Tuesday's news came out of the blue as Everton were not given a date by which a ruling should be handed down - the same principle which applies to Manchester City and their 115 charges for allegedly breaching financial rules.

Everton have immediately appealed the decision, but feel it could potentially have huge implications for Premier League football as a whole if they are not successful.

• Read the full story

Everton remain in talks with midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye over his future.

The 36-year-old is out of contract at the end of June.

Gana Gueye has played for the Toffees across seven seasons split over two spells, amassing more than 230 appearances.

In a statement, Everton said: "The club is continuing to liaise with representatives of Idrissa Gana Gueye over his future, with the midfielder's existing deal expiring at the end of June."

In announcing their retained list, Everton said under-21 players Jacob Beaumont-Clark, Kingsford Boakye, Roman Dixon, Bradley Moonan, Francis Okoronkwo, Tyler Onyango and Reece Welch will leave Everton when their contracts expire later in June.

So is there room for Gueye in Everton's squad? Should he be kept?

Get in touch with your views here

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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Wales Under-19 striker Will Grainger is attracting interest from Everton.

Grainger made his first start for Sheffield Wednesday in their final-day win against Norwich.

The previous week he scored his first senior goal in a 4-1 defeat at Oxford.

The highly-rated 17-year-old is likely to be part of Wales' squad when it hosts the European Under-19 Championships later this month.

While Sheffield Wednesday are hoping to hold contract talks with Grainger, Everton are across the situation. It is inevitable there will be wider interest should the player, who took over the captaincy of Wednesday's under-21 side earlier this season, excel in group stage games against Spain, Germany and Denmark.

Everton have been told they must pay Burnley £35m over the impact of breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.

The case - heard by a Premier League commission - relates to the 2021-22 season, when Everton were found to have broken profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) over a three-year period.

Burnley argued the breach impacted their chances of staying in the Premier League, and sought compensation for the losses associated with being relegated.

The Clarets have been awarded £26m in damages and a further £9m in interest.

• Read more on the story

In a statement Everton said: "Everton Football Club is surprised and angered by the decision of a Premier League Independent Disciplinary Commission to order a compensation payment to Burnley Football Club in relation to Everton's PSR breach in June 2022.

"Everton has appealed the decision and is clear in its belief the ruling is fundamentally flawed in both law and fact.

"The Club does not recognise the findings of the panel in determining Burnley's relegation from the Premier League in May 2022 was caused by a sporting advantage gained by Everton due to a breach of Profit & Sustainability Rules, for which a substantive sporting sanction has already been received.

"This ruling sets a dangerous and unworkable precedent for English football, given it is constructed on a principle that a club can be in breach of financial rules at any point in a financial year.

"Everton believes the panel's ruling misrepresents the clear evidence presented by its legal representatives and that an appeal will be successful.

"The Club is confident of its ongoing PSR compliance and has also obtained confirmation from the Premier League of its clear position that this ruling should not be the cause of any future PSR sanction. Evertonians can be assured that ownership are focused, with strengthened resolve, on delivering their vision of returning Everton to the top echelon of English football.

"No further comment will be made on this matter until the appeal process has been successfully concluded."

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"Alan Ball told me that Everton will always be his team," revealed BBC Radio Merseyside's Mike Hughes.

The club legend, who died of a heart attack at the age of 61, joined Everton from Blackpool in August 1966 for a then British-record transfer fee, shortly after winning the World Cup with England.

The central midfielder made 248 appearances and scored 78 goals over a five-year stint with the Toffees.

Speaking about Ball on BBC Radio Merseyside, Hughes said: "An awful lot of Evertonians from a certain era say that Alan Ball is the best player they have ever seen in a royal blue jersey.

"He was an absolute game-changer from Everton's perspective. I remember speaking to Colin Harvey and he remembered the exact day Ball signed.

"He impressed straightaway on the pitches at Bellefield, and indoors in the famous training ground gym. Harvey said his control and use of the ball, including his first-time passes, made the players think: 'My goodness, we're going to have to lift ourselves here. We have to be better to be like this guy'.

"He was what all great players are - he wasn't just great individually, he also made the players around him better."

On Arsenal paying a record fee to poach Ball from Everton in December 1971, Hughes added: "It was totally out of the blue, so much so the fans were rocked by it and couldn't really believe it.

"Having won the title in 1969-70, Everton were expected to dominate English football for years to come. But, the following season they came 16th and that decline continued - and then, all of a sudden, Ball's move to Arsenal came about.

"He has since made it clear that he never wanted to leave Everton. Everton boss Harry Catterick had told him a team had come in for him, it was good business, he was doubling his money and football is a business.

"Ball was stunned by it. He spoke to his dad, who said: 'If Everton don't want you, go to a club that does want you' - and Arsenal wanted him. Nevertheless, Ball told me that Everton will always be his team - and I really believed that.

"He really was a big-game player. He made everyone else better, he lifted the standards, he turned Everton from being a very good team into a great one. He was a phenomenal footballing figure."

Listen to the full Alan Ball conversation - plus a chat around Leighton Baines - on BBC Sounds

A chat about Blues icons of different eras in Alan Ball and Leighton Baines.

The A to Z of Merseyside sport explores the impact of people, places and much more on Everton Football Club.

Paul Salt, Mike Hughes and Ian Kennedy discuss Everton's World Cup Winner Alan Ball and one of the best left-backs to call Goodison Park home, Leighton Baines.

• Listen on BBC Sounds here or hit play below

The countdown to the World Cup is well and truly on, so here's a reminder of the Toffees selected to represent their countries from 11 June to 19 July.

The expanded 48-team competition is set to be the biggest in history, with the United States, Canada and Mexico hosting.

Everton's World Cup contingent:

• Idrissa Gueye (Senegal)

• Iliman Ndiaye (Senegal)

• Nathan Patterson (Scotland)

• Jordan Pickford (England)

Take a dive into each of the 48 squads here

Read more about the World Cup squads in numbers

Find out more about how to follow the competition on the BBC

Click here to download your World Cup 2026 wallchart

Manchester City are weighing up moves for Everton forward Iliman Ndiaye. (Mail), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

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Vitalii Mykolenko has signed a new three-year deal at Everton.

The defender was out of contract this summer but has now committed his future to the Toffees until June 2029. The 27-year-old has made 157 appearances since joining the club in January 2022 from Dynamo Kyiv.

"I feel excited to sign this new contract – very excited and proud," Mykolenko told club media.

"In the first few years of my time here we were struggling, but our team as a family, every person in the building gave everything to get through it. What we have now is stronger and we are getting better every season.

"For me, it's most important to feel confident and feel comfortable in the environment and I have that here, so I'm really happy."

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We asked for your views on what one thing needs to change at Everton before the new campaign and why.

Here are some of your comments:

Mike: New manager, new ideas, positive approach. A coach who learns from mistakes, uses and develops players and understands the need to inspire fans. A coach who can pick players in the correct positions. Everton need to play front-foot football with players allowed to express themselves. Young players need to be given game time and we need to stop cramming extra centre-backs and central midfielders into the team. Build the team on Pickford, Branthwaite and O'Brien at the back and Garner, Dewsbury-Hall and N'Diaye as the 6/8/10.

Steve: David Moyes. We need a manager who is more tactical, more flexible and more inspirational. The team must play with more verve, speed, and ingenuity. The defence needs to stop making disastrous mistakes.

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Stephen: We need a manager who can attract talent, put his faith in the players at his disposal and tailor his tactical approach in order to win games. Unfortunately, although he'll always be an Everton legend, Moyes isn't that person. Time to make a change.

David: We need to move away from the culture, both as fans and the people running Everton, of panicking and firing the manager at the first sign of trouble. Everton will never get back to winning trophies with that attitude. We need to stick with it, just as Carter and Kendall did by ignoring the noise from our supporters, who let their understandable frustrations get the better of them. Successful clubs do not chop and change managers, directors of football, etc, as often as we have. That approach has failed at Everton and it is time to move on and give someone the time and loyalty to build. Trevor Steven recently called for restraint and less toxicity from our fan base and he's right.

Craig: Absolutely not rocket science - a capable right-back to replace Seamus and a pedigree striker with experience to replace the two presumably decent guys who sadly lack any ability but who have toiled both with effort but very little ability. As a supporter of almost 70 years, when I think of past Everton strikers why is it that a transfer or a youth academy graduate has not come through?

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Everton's chief revenue officer Aaron Duckmanton joined BBC Radio Merseyside to discuss how a variety of events hosted over the summer at Hill Dickinson Stadium are helping to fund transfers for the Toffees.

"We wanted to build a world-class venue and with a world-class venue comes the ability to programme it for 365 days of the year," he explained.

"What we do in the summer is secondary to what we do on the football pitch but there is a huge importance as to how we programme events. We're really pleased with the line-up that we have got this summer. When we look at what we have been able to put into the stadium both from a sport and an event point of view, everyone is really proud of it."

On England's Lionesses playing at Hill Dickinson Stadium, on 9 June, Duckmanton said: "There is a commitment from the FA to bring the national teams outside of London. The Lionesses look to play 50% of their games away from Wembley, they have played at the Etihad and the City Ground recently so it was a very open conversation.

"With the commitment and the investment that we have made into Everton Women and the move to Goodison Park and the success that we have had, when we discussed around bringing a fixture here, we both pinpointed the Ukraine game. We wanted to make it a statement, we wanted a qualifier, the last qualifier for the Lionesses before they head to the tournament [World Cup in Brazil next year].

"It was actually a really nice marriage between the FA and the stadium to bring this game here. We're all really excited about it, we know the players are excited about it. We've got over 100 ex-Everton and England national players attending the game. The actual spectacle we're going to put together for the stadium, for the FA and for women's football is something really special."

• Explore all Everton content on BBC Sounds

Duckmanton also spoke about hosting England World Cup watch parties at Hill Dickinson: "It's a massive summer for international football, the World Cup is the biggest event that we all look forward to and when we looked at what we could do, we've got amazing spaces and amazing bars. We know people like to congregate and that the World Cup is a social activity.

"The timings are quite unique this year with it being in the US in the evenings. We thought the best thing to do would be to open a space and let people have a good time and experience it together.

"We hope that we will have 400-plus Evertonians each night watching [England number one] Jordan [Pickford]. We've got three watch parties booked in but we have all the plans to go all the way to the final should England get there so we are hoping that that is the case."

With so many different events being hosted at the new stadium, there could be concern that Everton are in danger of losing their identity and the challenges of ensuring it remains their home, and Duckmanton said: "It's always the balance. We are learning in every event that we have done, how to incorporate Everton, the club and the values that we want into these events. The promoters or the rights holders and federations who are coming here embrace what Everton is.

"The rugby league teams came up here and you will see the content that they put out celebrated the badge and the crest and how important it was to be playing at Everton's stadium, not just Hill Dickinson as a venue. The same team and the same people who operate our matchdays are working to operate our event days so you know that the same themes, values and consistency that Everton has and the staff has are coming through into the event.

"We don't want to lose our identity by being a venue for hire, that's not what we are. We are Everton Football Club sharing our stadium and sharing what the city of Liverpool is with the rest of the world."

Finally, Duckmanton spoke about whether any of the revenue generated by these events goes directly into buying new players: "It sure does. We are now governed by stringent rules and what we can spend on players based on the revenue that we can bring in, so the job of me and the team is to support what the playing staff do.

"That means by bringing in third party events, any advantage that we can deliver by programming the stadium and by bringing in new events and new revenue lines, it's all recognised so we can have a competitive advantage against clubs in our set by being able to programme our stadium. West Ham, Tottenham, Arsenal - they have all been able to increase their revenues by adding non-football events and that was always the plan for this. World class stadium, world class events which bring in world class revenues."

Hear the full interview with Duckmanton on BBC Sounds