02/09/2026 42comments  |  Jump to last

(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Everton rejected a late attempt from Chelsea to sign James Garner on transfer deadline deadline day.

Chelsea made an approach to sign Garner as the West Londoners sought a replacement for Enzo Fernndez, who departed for Manchester City in a British transfer record deal.

According to The Bobble, Chelsea valued Garner at £65million but the approach was rejected. Garner is understood to be happy to stay on Merseyside after a new four-and-a-half year contract in January.

The 25-year-old was named Everton Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season in 2025/26 and made his senior England debut in March. However, he missed out on a place in Thomas Tuchel's final squad for the 2026 World Cup.

It concluded a career-best campaign for Garner, who scored twice and provided seven Premier League assists. He led all Premier League midfielders for percentage of duels won, and ranked in the top 10 in his position for possession won, defensive duels won, and assists per 90 minutes.

Chelsea made multiple approaches for midfielders as Fernandez's exit edged closer. Xabi Alonso's side held talks with TFG-owned AS Roma for Manu Kone, but saw that approach turned down. Chelsea had agreed a deal for AS Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara but saw the French side pull the plug in the final hours of the window.

Read more - No way back: Everton’s chaotic window leaves key positions bare and faith shattered

 

Reader Comments (42)

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Tommy Carter
1 Posted 02/09/2026 at 11:03:29
I’d have driven him there myself for £65m so long as it facilitated the signing of 2 or 3 other players.

Good player, good character. But replaceable.
Alan McGuffog
2 Posted 02/09/2026 at 11:17:21
In that case the window was a total success then ?
Mark Murphy
3 Posted 02/09/2026 at 11:20:13
Not sure if you agreed with the Armstrong protests yourself, Tommy, so not aiming this at you, but I find it strange that some would accept the sale of our brightest midfielder of last season but break out the pitchforks for a proposed £40m income for a relative rookie who will quite probably spend more time on the bench than as a starter.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Armstrong is staying but in that scenario I'd keep Garner every day of the week.
Tommy Carter
4 Posted 02/09/2026 at 11:27:29
@3 because we’ve seen the ceiling of James Garner Mark. And we also saw his good form drop completely off a cliff last season. Put it this way, I don’t think he’s a £65m player.

I believe Armstrong already gives us a comparable level to Garner. Yet there is the potential that his ceiling is much higher.

Is that good enough for you?

If it were between Garner and N’Diaye right now to sell - which presumably it was yesterday based on this reporting then Garner should’ve been sold.
James Newcombe
5 Posted 02/09/2026 at 11:42:14
I think you could have kept the car on the drive, Tommy.

These clowns couldn't have signed two or three other players in an evening. Not sensibly!
Ray Mia
6 Posted 02/09/2026 at 11:43:34
Mark#3 - yes
Tommy#1 - agree to totally, belly-aching laughingly, disagree...

We are a squad in overhaul since 3-4 seasons of relegation form, a decade of blindingly bad management and squad see-sawing. We surely need players to fit the times, and not dreams of Subbuteo. Garner plays multiple positions across the team; we need Swiss Army knives as we ain't no Sushi restaurant.

On another note. I'm sad to see Beto go. I wanted him to do well, he has heart... but then again it was like watching a daddy long-legs play at times...
Christy Ring
7 Posted 02/09/2026 at 12:13:32
Tommy, very harsh, Garner is a fine player, a No 6 for me with Harrison No 8 and Dewsbury-Hall No 10.

Why do you think Chelsea wanted him?
Sean Mitchell
8 Posted 02/09/2026 at 12:25:49
The absolute helmets in charge probably had to ask who Garner was.
Tommy Carter
9 Posted 02/09/2026 at 12:47:49
Christy @7, I have literally said above that he's a good player. And we don't need Subutteo players, I agree. Ndiaye isn't one of those. He's a robust player who is capable of getting between 5-10 goals in our poor team. He will be a huge miss to us.

Garner has been excellent for us. Gives his all. But his form did drop off a cliff last season -- that's a fact. I think between Rohl, Armstrong, Hackney, Maitland-Niles, Norgaard, and Dewsbury-Hall that we can cope without Garner.

Put it this way: had we sold Garner and had Richarlison, Balogun, Ndiaye, Maitland-Niles and Grealish -- which in theory could've happened -- this would be a much stronger position than having Garner, Grealish and Maitland-Niles -- which is where we are at.

The Subutteo players comment is a joke -- Ndiaye has been a brilliant player for Everton, he is much better than a luxury player. Whereas Garner is not too much better than a utility player -- albeit a good one. One that has 3 Premier League goals in 112 appearances.
Mark Taylor
10 Posted 02/09/2026 at 12:51:05
Had they made that move early enough, I suspect we'd have chosen to sell him over Ndiaye. We do at least have some handy cover in midfield.

It would also have meant we wouldn't have needed Grealish on his truly astronomical wages, whose absence, under the new SCR rules, would have given us quite a bit of leeway to deploy our younger players. Like a good specialist full-back.

But what's done is done. This one ended badly... like so many before it.
Lester Yip
11 Posted 02/09/2026 at 12:57:03
If Tonali is £100M, Anderson is £116M, and one more good season will see Garner to at least £80M...

Maybe we should really get Kevin Thelwell back.
Mike Allison
12 Posted 02/09/2026 at 12:58:23
Neither of them should have been sold. If we were that short of transfer money, then retaining our best players and signing high quality free agents or loan deals was the way to improve the squad.

Selling one player to fund the rest is acceptable, but getting rid of multiple of your ‘best' players and sacrificing the one thing we have over others -- stability -- was never going to be a good idea.

But we spent money on Norgaard and Hackney, signing two players in the position where we were already strongest, so how could we be that short?
Brian Harrison
13 Posted 02/09/2026 at 13:07:35
I think that we now have 2 players who had offers for them turned down, so I would imagine with what's happened in this window will make them think is there any future staying at this club. I would imagine the offer from Chelsea is a real head turner for Garner and could we see that deal being revisited in Jan. Also Harrison Armstrong had eventually a £40m deal rejected, but he knows the board were quite prepared to let him go so does that make him reconsider looking for a way out in Jan.
I am sure the Friedkin's would view a possible £100m from these possible deals to look very attractive.
Mick O\\\'Malley
14 Posted 02/09/2026 at 13:12:34
Tommy Carter, I agree with you about Garner, he is easier to replace than Ndaiye is and id have sooner lost him to be honest, others see it differently and that's fine but I reckon the players we have signed, Norgaad,Hackney and not forgetting Armstrong could replace him and what he brings to the team
Steve Shave
15 Posted 02/09/2026 at 13:26:05
Lester I always said what a fine job Thelwell did for us, massively under appreciated by the fans IMO. I wanted him to be retained by TFG and felt he'd earned his place at the table, he would have dealt with our tricky owners admirably no doubt having had to work for the buffoon Moshiri.

I think the debate about if we should have sold Garner instead of Illi is redundant as Illi had already been sold when the offer came in. I knew that Chelsea would have a go for Garner, he is a fine player and his stats were close to Anderson's last season. I actually think £65m is too low for him if you compare stats with Anderson and what he went to City for.

Had the offer come in much earlier though I agree we should have maybe considered it but only if that meant a quality young replacement, Balogun and two more full backs. We'd be bruised and angry about losing our two best players yes but we would have had a much more balanced squad and a young team to build on for the future. Instead we are once again a fucking laughing stock, and not for the first time. I really had hoped those days were behind us but its same old same old with us isn't it.
Mark Murphy
16 Posted 02/09/2026 at 13:36:51
“Is that good enough for you?”
If you mean do I agree, then no.
If it had been Ndiaye or Armstrong I’d rather we’d sold Armstrong.
If Armstrong or Garner, still Armstrong.
I don’t think it was ever Ndiaye or Garner but in that scenario, yes, I would’ve preferred to have kept N’Diaye if he was on board with staying.
In my opinion N’Diaye was our best player and I don’t get the fury over the possible Armstrong sale and the almost meek acceptance of the actual N’Diaye one.
And I’m happy that we didn’t sell Garner.
Andrew Bentley
17 Posted 02/09/2026 at 13:38:25
@Tommy you forgot one minor point. Would you have still sold Garner for £65M knowing now that the club would not sign a replacement? Ndiaye would have likely gone as well anyway as it was clear he wanted Champs League and hadn’t signed a contract so his value would be less next year.

The abject failure of our Recruitment team means we shouldn’t sell anyone until a replacement is sorted out and ready to go. Other clubs do this so why do Everton make it look so hard….
Christy Ring
18 Posted 02/09/2026 at 13:46:45
Tommy and Mick, you keep mentioning Norgaard would replace Garner, not even back on the grass yet?
Iain Johnston
19 Posted 02/09/2026 at 13:48:05
Sorry, don't get what all the hype is surrounding N'diaye. He basically downed tools before the AfCON.

No assists during the 2024/2025 season - 9 goals in 33 games. Last season scored 6 in 32 & 3 assists & 2 of them were pens.Think he scored 3 all told at Marseille?

Over the last 3 seasons 18 goals & 8 assists over 97 games, 6854 minutes played. £65m.

Same 3 seasons for Beto? 20 goals & 1 assist over 97 games, 4034 minutes played. £15m.

As a forward for us he stood out as in terms of technical ability - he ran around like a bee in bottle, he was the best of a bad bunch.
Raymond Fox
20 Posted 02/09/2026 at 13:51:41
Ndiaye, didn't want to stay that was clear, it's no good keeping them when they want away.
I think £65m was a very good price for Garner but they were right not to sell him, as we are.
I would say he falls short of being an elite player, but some good judges must think he is.
David West
21 Posted 02/09/2026 at 13:53:24
Mark 16. Maybe it's a realisation that Ndiaye wanted to leave, that has brought about the acceptance in him leaving.

I'd also suggest he's at his highest value to everton, he may prove to go to the next level, be CL quality player and increase in value, but he couldn't have done that here.

Armstrong isn't even an established PL player yet, and the 40m offer shows how highly other teams rate him, it also shows they see him increasing in value, why would you let him do that at forrest?
If they are willing to pay 40m for him.
What are we paying for a replacement?

I didn't believe we'd go for a striker, I definitely didn't think we'd let one go with no replacement.
Ian Munford
22 Posted 02/09/2026 at 13:54:07
Steve, I do believe that KDH is our best player at the moment.
Sean Kearns
23 Posted 02/09/2026 at 13:56:49
Without penalties, how many goals did N’Diaye actually score for us?… in the few times Brennan Johnson has played for us he seems to get very central whenever when the ball is around the box and look for goals. He might end up being good for us. I’d give him that right hand spot… Get Braiden Graham on the bench and give the lad time. We’ve got a forward right under our noses who’s supposed to be shit hot… my biggest comfort is that Moyes seems to thrive under these conditions with a limited squad. When he has too many players he fucks it up and can’t handle it imo. When the ginger one has got a limited squad he seems to do better from what I’ve seen… also who is our penalty taker now? I hope it’s not Barry, lord have mercy.
Tommy Carter
24 Posted 02/09/2026 at 14:17:57
@20 Raymond - Garnwr may not want to stay now he knows Chelsea are interested.

Contrasting Garner as some ultra professional Evertonian against N’Diaye is some temperamental mercenary as is implied within the comments in this thread and others is complete ignorance bordering on xenophobia.

N’Diaye wanted out because he believes he can play at Champions League level and winning trophies. And guess what - he now is and will be.

@ Andrew 17 - No would’ve kept them all. Realistically all we have done is sign Maitland-Niles at a small fee and Grealish on loan. We could’ve achieved this without any outgoings.

If that meant we have an unhappy N’Diaye - well it’s tough. He’s our player - under contract and get on with it. And give him enough credit to see if he will still perform when unhappy. It would be in his interests to, to ensure he is still coveted by January.
David West
25 Posted 02/09/2026 at 14:23:25
Sean. It offers Moyes an excuse now though doesn't it ?

To be fair to Moyes he's now up against it, with Barry as our only CF, who I don't think has ever done 90mins.
He's obviously pushed for the CF, however it's not his fault the clowns have left him shorter than when the window opened up front.
But we know what the narrative will be now, how can we compete with 1 CF.

I'm not that concerned with losing beto, hoping Johnson matches or betters his goal tally from last year.

It's the wasted opportunity to improve that we all should be upset about.
Eric Myles
26 Posted 02/09/2026 at 14:31:08
Tommy #24 "Ndiaye wanted out because he believes he can play at Champions League level and winning trophies. And guess what -- he now is and will be."

Please explain why then he was perfectly happy to go to Spurs?
Tommy Carter
27 Posted 02/09/2026 at 14:36:53
@26

Was he? Did he tell you that himself did he? He’s at Man City - that’s what happened and is based in fact.
David West
28 Posted 02/09/2026 at 14:40:58
Ndiaye wanted a payday !
Don't kid yourselves thinking it's about anything else.
He was on his way to spurs till the gakpo deal fell through.
George Cumiskey
29 Posted 02/09/2026 at 14:45:00
I don't believe for a minute that Chelsea offered 65 million for Garner, that's a story thrown out to get fans to think it wasn't such a fucking show of a transfer window.
Mal van Schaick
30 Posted 02/09/2026 at 15:25:23
Are Chelsea short of. Right full back? That sale would have compounded the shit show our recruiters and owners have displayed this window.
Ian Horan
31 Posted 02/09/2026 at 15:57:08
illy to me often flattered to decieve, great dribbler but often no end product. he scored 6 or 7 goals last seadon 3 penalties in that by the way. ill is the score of great goals but never a great score by volume of goals. I think £65 mill is a good price if we look at it based on output and not our feel good factor.
As with Garner his value is driben by his adaptability, I believe he playrd injured towards the end of the season but Ill was shocking after the AFCON.
Jack Convery
32 Posted 02/09/2026 at 15:57:40
When Anderson was at Forest, Garner played him off the park in two games. A very under appreciated player in our team. He should have gone to the WC instead of RS Henderson.
Mike Gaynes
33 Posted 02/09/2026 at 17:46:03
Tommy says Garner's form "dropped off a cliff" last season.

Funny nobody else noticed, since he was our Player of the Season and Player's Player of the Season.

Anyway, I'm very glad he's still with us. The only thing that makes me feel better about yesterday is that we still have a deep, skilled core in midfield. And Garner is our leader there.
Tommy Carter
34 Posted 02/09/2026 at 18:52:46
@33 it did Mike. You must’ve been watching a different run of games to me from February onwards
John Collins
35 Posted 02/09/2026 at 19:02:36
Was it The Owners of the club who "snubbed the £65M offer"? TFG missed out there. They could have ended the window with a £90M profit, instead of the £25M profit they ended up with.

As it stands we have the smallest, unbalanced squad in the Premier League. No problem to TFG that, 17th finishing position is plenty enough.
Edward Rogers
36 Posted 02/09/2026 at 19:21:33
George @29
Just about to post the same thing, how come no-one mentioned this potential transfer yesterday? Sounds like a cover up to appease the fans?
Jay Lewis
37 Posted 02/09/2026 at 22:05:44
Is this actually true?
Sounds like a story put out there to calm the fans' anger
Jay Lewis
38 Posted 02/09/2026 at 22:08:25
I agree Edward, funny how this has come out now
Brendan McLaughlin
39 Posted 02/09/2026 at 22:19:31
Edward #36

It actually was mentioned on ToffeeWeb yesterday.
Paul Hewitt
40 Posted 03/09/2026 at 06:46:37
David @28.

Who doesn't want a pay day?
Andrew Ellams
41 Posted 03/09/2026 at 07:40:52
Was this behind the alleged bid for Mandela Keita?

Sell Garner, buy Keita for a lot less and more money in the pockets of the carpetbaggers.
Tony Abrahams
42 Posted 03/09/2026 at 11:57:00
It’s much better to argue about who is the better player than concentrate on the fiasco that has been created by the hierarchy, I suppose though John@35.

Seventeenth and win a cup? Yes please… and if I was David Moyes, that is exactly what I would be doing under the present circumstances. Concentrate on the cups, whilst doing just enough to scrape by just above the relegation zone.

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