Did Everton miss any of the players who left the club last summer?

It was the first summer under the ownership of the Friedkin Group and of David Moyes' second stint and both sought to overhaul a squad that had been buffeted by the turbulence of the final years under Farhad Moshiri.

Several first team players ended up leaving - Jack Harrison, Jesper Lindstrom, Orel Mangala and Armando Broja's loans came to an end while Abdoulaye Doucoure, Ashley Young, Joao Virginia, Asmir Begovic and Dominic Calvert-Lewin departed for free. Youssef Chermiti and Neal Maupay were sold. Would any of them have helped Everton last season? Everton writers Joe Thomas and Chris Beesley share their thoughts.

Everton needed to make changes last summer as TFG and Moyes sought to stamp their ideas onto a squad that had been a mismatch of players pieced together as the club attempted to survive on and off the pitch.

I think Dominic Calvert-Lewin would have scored goals for Everton this season, possibly more than Beto and Thierno Barry. But I'm also not sure that it really would have worked out. By the end of his time at Everton, I think the forward needed a fresh start and the headspace created by a change of scenery may well have been crucial to his positive start to life at Elland Road.

Everton probably also needed to move on from Abdoulaye Doucoure. The switch to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the 10 introduced some creativity, flair and technical skill that had been missing from that area of the pitch for so long - he has been brilliant in his first season at Everton (although I would like to see him start deeper).

I do find a frustrating irony in Everton trying to move away from the one-dimensional, physical football that served them well under Sean Dyche, just as the league seemed to go in the opposite direction. This was a season of ultra-physicality, where set pieces were key and where athleticism was important.

That is what the likes of Brentford and Sunderland did well - they created squads of players who could impose themselves on games and I do think Everton missed the strength and resilience of Doucoure in the middle. His technical attributes may not have been the best but he was so fit he was able to play almost a dual - 8/10 role that was really important for Everton.

I do think Everton missed that at times last season and this summer I think the Blues would do well to look for players who can be physically imposing on the pitch.

I'm not sure Chermiti would have had many more opportunities but he has shown promise with Rangers this season - it would have been intriguing to see whether he could have kicked on with the right support.

It seems as though it’s not just footballers who aren’t playing who end up becoming better in the eyes of some Evertonians, but those who have moved on to pastures new, although there may well be a point with the latter.

All Hill Dickinson Stadium patrons got to see of Adam Aznou during his debut season in England was a solitary cameo off the bench against Sunderland in the FA Cup third round when he took a tumble to earn the Blues what looked like a fortunate penalty – for once – but quite a few seem to think he must be peak Leighton Baines, the way they complain about him not getting a chance.

Along with David Moyes, who was also among the small crowd at Valley Parade that night for an EFL Trophy fixture, this correspondent got to see the Moroccan international youngster when he was part of an Everton Under-21 side – along with Dwight McNeil and Nathan Patterson – that got torn apart 5-1 by third tier Bradford City though, and he looked miles off emulating Vitalii Mykolenko, never mind Baines.

Someone who has flourished when crossing the Pennines though is the Blues’ former number nine Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Let’s have it right, goal returns of five, two, eight and three over his final four seasons at Goodison Park were totals that were nowhere near good enough for Everton’s main striker but since returning to his native Yorkshire with Leeds United, he bagged 15 in 2025/26, which was five more than Beto and seven more than Thierno Barry.

Now 29, the Sheffield-born striker probably needed a change of scenery after things had turned stale for him on Merseyside but while he was sometimes a divisive figure among Blues, a player who was often blighted by injuries, still put his body on the line for the club at key moments.

As I wrote at the time of his exit, Calvert-Lewin finished with an almost identical record to Duncan Ferguson, with both men playing 273 games and the Scot scoring one more goal (72).

Both delivered big headed goals in front of the Gwladys Street against Liverpool, plus Manchester United for Ferguson and Crystal Palace for Calvert-Lewin but each struggled with consistency and fitness, so will Everton history judge Dom as kindly as Dunc, I wonder?