Everton manager vows to keep Alex Iwobi

Everton manager Sean Dyche has assured supporters that Everton are not waiting for players to depart before bringing new faces in and opened up on Alex Iwobi’s impending exit.

The Blues headed into this summer’s transfer window needing to upgrade and rebalance their squad, with a clear strategy finally in place. The club could not afford to gamble on its top-flight status by neglecting its forward line again.

And heading into deadline day, Youssef Chermiti, Beto, Jack Harrison, and Arnaut Danjuma have all been recruited to bolster the club’s attack.

Everton, however, remains in the market for new additions, while Alex Iwobi is expected to depart for Fulham.

The Blues and their Premier League rivals are in advanced talks over a transfer that would see Iwobi move to Craven Cottage on a permanent basis. Tom Cannon is also the subject of interest after being left out of the squad for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup win over Doncaster Rovers.

And asked if any outgoings would help fund incomings on deadline day, Dyche replied: "That’s the thing, so at the minute, and just to be clear, we are not waiting for that to happen [players to leave], then we are going to search; we are already in line.

"I don’t want to think we go, oh, quick, let's go out and get someone; that is not the case. The money will be decided by the powers that be. What comes in, what is available to go out.

"One thing you might all know this, but one thing for fans to be aware of is that whatever money you get, you just don’t get it in one go.

"Everybody sort of has this thing that whoever pays £100million for someone, they think they go here is £100m. It doesn't work like that.

"It is chunked down into different payments and different plans and that kind of stuff, and we have had to work hard to find different ways for that to work for us, so that has to be factored in as well.

Fulham and Everton are locked in talks over a £20million deal for the Nigeria international ahead of the 11 pm deadline on Friday.

Iwobi was not part of Everton’s squad for their 2-1 comeback win at Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.

Asked specifically about the speculation regarding Iwobi  Dyche said “It’s noise at the moment”.

It means the Arsenal academy product is due to be a free agent at the end of the season, and Everton does

not want to see a player they signed for £35m in 2019 depart for nothing.

Dyche would rather have Iwobi in his squad than not, of course, but it is understandable that the Toffees are prepared to offload to Fulham if £20m is indeed offered.

The most disappointing aspect is that it has taken until the eve of deadline day for discussions to reach this point, giving Everton very little time to bring in a replacement.

Iwobi started all 38 of Everton’s Premier League games last season, which goes a long way to highlighting just how important a player he is.

The Nigerian never truly justified his price tag at Goodison Park, but he was voted Players’ Player of the Season last season and will leave a big void to be filled should he move on.

With defensive and attacking issues to contend with, even accounting for the arrival of Beto, Dyche now also has a midfield headache to further add to his problems.