David Moyes on Everton's Thin Squad After Transfer Window

David Moyes did not try to dress it up. Everton head into the Premier League season light on numbers, light on experience – and with very little margin for error.

A chaotic end to the transfer window stripped the squad bare. Beto, Adam Aznou, Nathan Patterson, Iliman Ndiaye and Tim Iroegbunam all left in the final days, ripping depth out of a group that was already thin.

Everton did respond, but only partially. Jack Grealish returned to Goodison Park on loan, Ainsley Maitland-Niles arrived from Lyon, and that was it. A late push for Folarin Balogun collapsed, leaving the club’s summer business feeling incomplete and, in Moyes’ own words, short of what he knows a Premier League squad requires.

The numbers tell the story. Everton have named just 19 senior players in their 25-man Premier League list. Three more – Harrison Armstrong, Tyrique George and Tyler Dibling – sit on the under-21 roster and will be called upon as needed.

Speaking before facing Manchester United, Moyes cut a realistic but defiant figure. He knows exactly what he is walking into.

“I know what I needed and I know what it’s like to build a squad for the Premier League,” he said. “I know the numbers you need. I’ve been around long enough to know that, but some things went against us and some things could have gone better. Ultimately, we didn’t want to lose a lot of the players, but for different reasons that had to happen.”

So this is the hand he has. A small core of senior professionals, a clutch of youngsters, and a schedule that will test them quickly.

“They’re all going to have to be able to muck in as we’ve got a real small squad now,” Moyes continued. “It gives opportunities to some people who have not had them and sometimes in football you need to be given that chance so that you can show what you can do.

“Let’s see if some of them can do that. I have no concerns. I am sure they will be fully at-it.”

That is the challenge now. Out of a bruising window, Everton’s season may depend on whether those “some people who have not had” their chance can seize it under the Old Trafford lights and beyond.