Everton picked up their first win of the Premier League season against Crystal Palace, with Dwight McNeil‘s emphatic double overturning Marc Guehi’s first-half header at Goodison Park.
16th in the standings, maybe it’s not all doom and gloom. Everton have found their feet, perhaps unsteadily, but they now have points on the board after losing their first four matches of the campaign.
McNeil has been monstrous for Sean Dyche, starting to look like a brilliant signing for the Toffees. Believe it or not, though, the transfer in 2022 almost didn’t take place, with Everton eyeing up Morgan Gibbs-White while he was still at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Everton’s interest in Morgan Gibbs-White
Just over two years ago, with Frank Lampard at the helm, Everton wanted to sign a new attacking midfielder, having sold Richarlison to Tottenham Hotspur in a deal worth £60m.
Two weeks later, in July, Everton reportedly saw a £25m offer for Gibbs-White rejected by Wolves, who were holding out for more. The dynamic star had spent the 2021/22 season on loan with Sheffield United in the Championship, excelled, scoring 12 goals and adding ten assists across 37 fixtures.
Later that summer, Nottingham Forest smashed their transfer record in bringing Gibbs-White to the City Ground, signing him for fee rising to £42.5m, which would have taken the lion’s share of Everton’s budget.
Luckily, they went for McNeil instead.
One that got away
The transfers that nearly happened but never did. This article is part of Football FanCast’s One That Got Away series.
How Gibbs-White compares to Dwight McNeil in 2024/25
At the end of July 2022, Everton announced the £20m signing of McNeil from Burnley, who had been relegated from the Premier League under Sean Dyche’s leadership.
He ebbed and flowed throughout his first two campaigns on Merseyside but McNeil invariably offers a creative outlet.
Now, though, he’s entering the ascendancy and proving that he has the quality to be a standout player in the English top flight.
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Premier League (24/25): McNeil vs Gibbs-White |
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|---|---|---|
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Stats (*per game) |
||
|
Matches (starts) |
6 (6) |
5 (5) |
|
Goals |
3 |
1 |
|
Assists |
2 |
0 |
|
Touches* |
50.8 |
53.8 |
|
Shots (on target) |
1.8 (0.8) |
2.2 (1.0) |
|
Pass completion |
78% |
77% |
|
Big chances created |
6 |
2 |
|
Key passes* |
3.5 |
2.4 |
|
Dribbles* |
1.2 |
1.4 |
|
Ball recoveries* |
4.2 |
5.0 |
|
Tackles + interceptions* |
1.5 |
2.4 |
|
Total duels won* |
3.3 |
6.4 |
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Stats via Sofascore |
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It’s an interesting one. Gibbs-White is an excellent player, with a firm grip on the many facets of the midfield game. He’s more combative than McNeil, sure, but the Everton man is demonstrating a rich vein of prolific form that is helping Everton, a team that struggles for attacking fluency, instrumentally.
We’re still at the early stage of the season, but the former Claret has given his team a platform from which to build on. Of course, Gibbs-White’s prowess has led to him being quirkily dubbed the “Aldi Jude Bellingham” by analyst Raj Chohan, which was a double-edged comment but did emphasise his multi-functionality in the number ten role.
Bellingham needs no introduction; he’s a blue-chip English talent if there ever was one, generational. But it does show that Everton could have got their hands on a talent in the mould of one of the world’s best.
That said, are they really rueing the missed opportunity? They signed McNeil for less than half what Forest paid Wolves – and do you know what? They might just have got the better deal, with McNeil going from strength to rippling strength.