Everton Targets Franculino and Four Late Deals
The 2-0 win over Crystal Palace has not lulled Everton into complacency. It has done the opposite. A sharp start to the season has only underlined where this squad still needs surgery, and David Moyes is wasting no time.
Behind the scenes, Goodison Park is moving at deadline-week speed. A striker, a right-back, a left-back and a centre-back are all being worked on, with TeamTalk describing “late moves” across those four positions as firmly “on the cards” for Moyes’ side. This is not tinkering. It is an attempted reshaping of the spine and the flanks in one late push.
Franculino at the Heart of the Plan
The headline name is clear enough: Franculino.
Everton have not just stumbled across the Midtjylland forward in a data trawl. They have tracked him, watched him, gone back again. According to the report, the club have “held fresh talks with the agents of Midtjylland striker Franculino, whom they have scouted extensively.” That level of detail tells its own story. This is groundwork, not a gamble.
His numbers demand attention. Franculino has “notched an impressive 58 goals in 115 games for Midtjylland,” a return that would turn heads in any major league’s recruitment room. A move earlier in the year stalled after injury, but he is now “fully fit again and is open to a move to the Premier League.”
The price? TeamTalk suggests “€25million (£21.4m / $29.2m) could be enough to sign him this summer,” with Newcastle also credited with interest. For a 22-year-old with that output, the fee sits in the bracket where a club like Everton must at least be in the conversation.
They are, and the context around Beto explains why.
Everton are “anticipating offers for Beto ahead of the deadline,” but with one non-negotiable condition: they “would not allow him to leave without first lining up a replacement.” That stance is echoed elsewhere in the squad, but it is most stark at centre-forward, where any misstep would be brutally exposed.
Zian Flemming of Burnley has also been looked at, while the report claims Richarlison “would jump at the chance to re-join his former club, with Tottenham considering a sale.” The Brazilian’s name alone will stir something on the blue half of Merseyside, yet the broader picture is clear: Everton want a forward who can score now and grow into the role, not just plug a gap.
Franculino fits that profile better than most.
Right-Back: The Long-Running Problem
If there is one position that has nagged away at Everton’s planning for months, it is right-back. Internally, it has been classed as a priority for some time, and nothing about the opening weeks has changed that.
TeamTalk states bluntly that “one of Everton's top priorities is to sign a new right-back, and the situation remains the same.” Strasbourg’s Guela Doue has been the preferred option, and Everton “have made multiple approaches for the Ivorian international.” The snag? The player is “holding out for a move to a Champions League club.”
Once Paris Saint-Germain are floated as a possible destination, the dynamic shifts. Everton cannot afford to sit in the waiting room while a target angles for Europe’s elite. At some point, you walk away.
That is where Crystal Palace’s Daniel Munoz comes in. He “remains under serious consideration” and is understood to be valued at around £25million, with Palace open to offers. Munoz, at that price, would represent a significant outlay, but he also brings a more ready-made profile: seasoned, tested in the Premier League, and capable of stepping straight into a demanding role.
The urgency here is obvious. A team that wants to defend higher, run harder and control transitions needs full-backs it can trust week after week. Everton do not yet have that on the right.
Depth on the Left and at the Heart of Defence
On the opposite flank, the logic is simpler but just as important. Everton are in the market for a left-back, with Nice defender Melvin Bard among those assessed. The aim is to give Vitaliy Mykolenko genuine competition and to restore balance across the back line over what will be a heavy, attritional season.
At centre-back, the situation is more fluid. Movement hinges on what happens with Jake O’Brien. TeamTalk reports that Everton “look set to make a late move for a new centre-back, due to the fact that Jake O'Brien could leave before the deadline.” The stance mirrors the Beto scenario: “they would not let him go without signing a replacement.”
Leeds United, Crystal Palace and Sunderland are all mentioned as potential destinations for O’Brien. If one of those clubs steps forward with a serious offer, Everton intend to be ready with a response, not scrambling for a body in the final hours.
This is where the window may ultimately be defined. Depth at centre-back has undone Everton before. Lose one too many and suddenly a promising autumn becomes a winter of improvisation and square pegs.
A Different Kind of Late Scramble
What stands out most in this flurry of names is the pattern. This does not read like a club lurching from problem to problem. It looks like a plan.
A striker to address Beto’s uncertain future and lift the attacking ceiling. Two full-backs to inject reliability and athleticism on both sides. A centre-back to protect against an O’Brien exit. It is coherent, joined-up thinking across the pitch rather than a reaction to the last bad result.
Franculino is the swing piece. “58 goals in 115 games” is not just a neat statistic; it is the profile of a forward whose best years are ahead of him. At around £21.4m, he sits in the sweet spot between risk and reward. If Beto goes and Everton replace him with a younger, upwardly mobile striker already used to carrying a scoring burden, it would say plenty about how Moyes sees the next phase of this project.
The right-back chase, too, will be telling. If Guela Doue continues to hold out for Champions League football, Everton must decide when to pivot decisively. Daniel Munoz, with his price and experience, feels like the type of call that separates a bold window from a hesitant one.
Everton have started well. The mood around Goodison is lighter, the football sharper, the direction clearer. Now comes the hard part: turning intent into signatures and promise into depth.
By the time the window shuts, will this be remembered as the moment Moyes armed a good start with real substance, or as another summer when Everton stopped just short?
