David Moyes Insists Everton Can Avoid Relegation Despite Deadline Day Frustrations

David Moyes cuts a frustrated figure as the dust settles on a chaotic deadline day, but the Everton manager insists his patched-up squad still has enough to stay clear of a relegation scrap.

The Scot heads into Sunday’s clash with Manchester United with just 18 senior outfield players at his disposal and only one recognised striker, after a late push to sign Monaco forward Folarin Balogun collapsed and Iliman Ndiaye was sold to Manchester City.

“It’s disappointing we didn’t do more business, disappointing things didn’t go our way in the end,” Moyes admitted in his pre-match press conference. “But sometimes in football you have to live with disappointments and we will and we’ll move on.”

The Balogun saga summed up Everton’s deadline-day turmoil. A deal worth a reported £40 million was close, both clubs ready to push it through despite an issue flagged during the USA international’s medical that led Everton to try to renegotiate the terms.

Monaco managing director Thiago Scuro revealed that Balogun himself eventually walked away from the move, unhappy with how he felt he had been treated by Everton. The clubs were still willing to proceed. The player wasn’t.

“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.”

So Everton are left light. Very light. A squad already short on depth has been stripped further just as the season begins to bite.

This is not where Moyes expected to be. Last season, Everton flirted with Europe for long stretches before a late slump dragged them down to 13th. That taste of the top half has not left him.

He has been clear about his ambition since returning: he wants Everton back in European competition, not glancing over their shoulders at the bottom three.

“I’m getting too old now to be sitting around at the bottom end,” the former Manchester United manager 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 knows the outside noise. A thin squad, one striker, rivals strengthening all around them. Doubt creeps in from beyond Finch Farm.

Inside the camp, Moyes is pushing a different message.

“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 said. “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 window has closed. The excuses have, too. With United arriving on Sunday and a long season ahead, Moyes must squeeze every last drop out of a lean group and prove, once again, that Everton belong in the fight at the right end of the table, not the wrong one.