Everton signed Jack Grealish and Ainsley Maitland-Niles on deadline day, but the window still ended with a smaller squad than the one it started with. The late collapse of a deal for Folarin Balogun added to a summer that was meant to strengthen the group and instead left more questions around the rebuild.
Everton's squad size after deadline day
The timeline matters here. Angus Kinnear said Everton inherited just 12 players under contract, which at least explains why the first summer under the Friedkin Group was always going to be a heavy lift. Even so, the club still closed the window having reduced the size of the squad, which is a hard outcome to sell as progress.
That is not just a matter of optics. Everton finished 13th last season and sit ninth in the Premier League table entering this set of fixtures, so the club is trying to build from a decent base rather than firefighting. A smaller squad makes that job harder, especially with only 4 points from their last 3 league games.
Kinnear also said, "European football, we have shown, is eminently achievable, because we came so close." He then added, "The club had relied on too many loan players, probably too many older players and there was significant work to be done."
The Armstrong backlash and the late transfer move
The most combustible part of the window was the Harrison Armstrong episode. Everton explored the sale of the midfielder, Nottingham Forest made a £40m bid, and fans reacted so strongly that one warning was they would "have a riot" if he left.
Armstrong has already started all three competitive games this season, so this was never a fringe case involving a youngster on the edge of the squad. The backlash was loud because supporters saw a homegrown player being treated like a bargaining chip, not because they were overreacting to a pure academy rumour.
The Balogun deal adds to that mood. Everton had been in for the striker, but the move collapsed late, and the club came out of the window carrying the sense that ambition was trimmed back when it mattered most.
The only clear gain from the deadline-day activity is the arrival of Grealish and Maitland-Niles. Even that does not change the central point, which is that Everton ended the summer smaller, not stronger, and the next stretch of games will be judged against that choice.
FAQ
Why is Everton's transfer window being judged so harshly?
Everton signed Jack Grealish and Ainsley Maitland-Niles on deadline day, but the squad still ended the window smaller than it started. The late collapse of a deal for Folarin Balogun and the backlash over the Harrison Armstrong saga added to the sense that the rebuild ended badly.
Did Everton actually strengthen their squad this summer?
The window included new arrivals, but the overall outcome was a smaller squad. Angus Kinnear said the club inherited just 12 players under contract, and Everton still finished the window facing criticism over late-window sell-to-buy thinking.
What happened with Harrison Armstrong at Everton?
Everton explored the sale of Harrison Armstrong, and Nottingham Forest made a £40m bid. The move was then abandoned after a furious fan response, with Armstrong already having started all three competitive games this season.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
