David Moyes Reflects on Everton's Transfer Window Challenges

David Moyes cut a frustrated figure as he surveyed what is left of his Everton squad after a chaotic end to the transfer window – but he insists there is still enough in the dressing room to stay clear of a relegation fight.

A frantic deadline day saw a late push for Monaco striker Folarin Balogun fall apart, while Iliman Ndiaye departed for Manchester City. By the time the window shut, Moyes was left with just 18 senior outfield players, and only one recognised striker to lead the line.

“Disappointed we didn't do more business, disappointed things didn't go our way in the end,” Moyes admitted in his pre-match press conference ahead of Manchester United’s visit on Sunday. “But sometimes in football you have to live with disappointments and we will and we'll move on.”

The failed Balogun deal has already become the flashpoint of Everton’s window. Monaco managing director Thiago Scuro revealed that the forward pulled out of a return to the Premier League over what he viewed as poor treatment from Everton.

An issue flagged during the USA international’s medical prompted the club to try to renegotiate the terms of a move believed to be worth around £40 million ($54 million). Both clubs, though, remained willing to push ahead with the transfer until Balogun himself walked away.

“There were lots of different bits to it. It wasn't anybody's fault,” Moyes said. “Ultimately it happens in football a lot. The player had a problem in his medical and that was simply it.”

The collapse leaves Everton light in attack at a time when Moyes had hoped to be arming himself for a push up the table, not bracing for a scrap at the bottom. Last season, the Toffees flirted with European qualification before a late slump dragged them down to 13th.

That taste of the upper half has not left their manager. Moyes has been clear since returning that he wants Everton back in the European conversation, and he has thrown the challenge straight back at his players.

“I'm getting too old now to be sitting around at the bottom end,” he said. “I've said that to the players here when I came in. The job is that we challenge as close to the top end of the league as we can.”

He remains fiercely protective of the group that did overachieve for much of last season.

“I've got to say, they've done a brilliant job of it last year, and I don't think we were expected to do so well as what we've done,” he added. “I've got to hope that we can do that again. There might not be a great expectation on us at this moment in time, but behind the scenes I'm rallying them.”

The squad may be thin, the striker options thinner still, but Moyes has made the stakes plain. This season, Everton either punch above their weight again – or they risk being dragged into exactly the kind of battle he says he no longer has time for.