Everton have been put through the wringer this summer, but it could only be the start of a long and tough season as David Moyes and his threadbare outfit try and challenge in the Premier League.

Most disappointing is the fact that Everton stood a stone's throw away from the Champions League after beating Chelsea 3-0 in March. A seven-game winless run to close the campaign scuppered their hopes, but that is all the more reason for technical director Angus Kinnear and co to have made this an emphatic window for the Toffees persuasion.

Sadly, Everton are weaker now than they were at the end of May. Heading into the transfer window, they needed to sign a natural right-back and strengthen in attack. Neither has happened.

Folarin Balogun's collapsed move to Merseyside dominated D-day headlines, but Everton have also been left rueing their failure to sign Joshua Zirkzee, out-of-favour Manchester United forward who has remained at Old Trafford.

Why Everton wanted to sign Zirkzee

With Beto having completed a transfer to Fiorentina, Everton knew that signing a forward was imperative. They knew that leaving Moyes with only Thierno Barry at No. 9 would be unforgivable.

They knew these things, but circumstances still conspired against the Premier League club to expose the owners' ineptitude and carelessness.

Everton showed last-gasp interest in the wantaway Man United forward, but it was poorly handled. Zirkzee did not accept the loan option at the eleventh hour, and the Friedkin Group's gambit also convinced Balogun to pull the plug on his £40m transfer to the Hill Dickinson.

In Barry and Beto, Everton had two strikers of similar proportions. Zirkzee would have offered a contrast, self-described as an "unpredictable" attacker with creativity and link-up qualities that have not quite blossomed in the Premier League.

Perhaps he would have unlocked his potential under Moyes' wing at Everton. Now, we will never know. But Moyes needs to find a solution quickly - and he might just have an in-house answer.

Moyes must unleash Everton's in-house Zirkzee

Everton might not have a surplus of options in the Premier League this season, but they do have a group of coherent players who have still welcomed back Jack Grealish to strengthen the ranks.

Iliman Ndiaye has left for Manchester City in a £65m deal, though, and with that in mind, it's all the more important that the Toffees develop their emerging talent, with Tyrique George front and centre in that regard.

George joined Everton from Chelsea on loan in January, making an impression across the latter half of the 2025/26 campaign. The 20-year-old is a fast and dynamic attacker, composed on the ball and mature in his decision-making.

He can also play across a variety of attacking positions, and that could prove crucial as Moyes attempts to navigate this new tactical terrain, with Barry Everton's only recognised senior option at centre-forward.

George has started Everton's first two matches of the Premier League season. He has made a promising start, completing 75% of his dribbles over the past two games, also winning seven duels in total.

With three chances created, there's also a sense that George could offer that Zirkzee-esque profile that Moyes now needs to establish at the front-end of his Toffees system - especially after Merseyside reporter Guilia Bould said she had "been told the back-up striker" is indeed George after the recent turn of events.

An "explosive" attacker, as per analyst Ben Mattinson, George has experience at No. 9, and in that, you can see why the young and avid forward is being considered as Barry's deputy.

Barry has scored three goals and registered and assist across his first four outings this season, and if he can stay fit, could provide Everton with a strong attacking presence that George would play into, expanding the walls around Moyes' offensive system.

George caught the eye at the start of his Stamford Bridge career. Talent scout Jacek Kulig said that it was the "beginning of something special", and while it didn't work out in the long run with the Londoners, he now has the chance to develop into a mainstay for an Everton side crying out for a 'special' something to spearhead this wobbling project.