Everton have completed an entire summer transfer window and submitted a Premier League squad containing only 15 senior outfield players.
The club registered 19 senior players for the 2026/27 season, six fewer than the permitted maximum of 25. Four of those players are goalkeepers.
Premier League rules allow clubs to register up to 25 senior players, at least eight of whom must be homegrown. Everton have comfortably satisfied the homegrown requirement while approaching the overall limit with considerably less enthusiasm.
The squad includes deadline-day arrival Ainsley Maitland-Niles alongside fellow summer signings Brennan Johnson, Hayden Hackney, Merlin Röhl and Christian Barsøe Nørgaard.
However, the departures of players including Iliman Ndiaye, Beto, Dwight McNeil, Nathan Patterson, Idrissa Gueye and Tim Iroegbunam have left David Moyes with fewer established options than he wanted.
A proposed deadline-day move for Monaco striker Folarin Balogun collapsed, leaving Thierno Barry as Everton’s only recognised senior centre-forward.
Moyes admitted that Everton had finished the window with a “real small squad” and expressed frustration at the club’s failure to complete more of its planned business.
The situation is not quite as severe as the 19-player list initially suggests. Harrison Armstrong, Tyler Dibling and Tyrique George remain available without being registered because they qualify as under-21 players.
Everton can also call upon members of their academy if necessary, although relying on teenagers to provide immediate Premier League depth is normally described as a pathway only when it was intentional.
The club therefore enter the season with enough players to name a starting XI, substitutes and several people capable of watching from the treatment room.
Everton also possess six vacant places in their senior squad, providing them with considerable flexibility to register players they did not sign.
The spaces may become useful when the transfer market reopens in January. Until then, they are expected to remain fully fit.
