Everton came ‘really close’ to signing Bayern Munich star before choosing Maitland-Niles instead – journalist
Everton came ‘really close’ to signing Bayern Munich right-back Sacha Boey before deciding to bring in Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Lyon instead, per a reliable source.
The Toffees had made signing a new right-back a top priority all summer but ultimately left that business until deadline day.
Everton sold Nathan Patterson to Torino, leaving David Moyes without a natural right-back.
Strasbourg’s Guela Doue – Everton’s top target – proved too expensive to sign, while moves for Crystal Palace’s Daniel Munoz and Nottingham Forest’s Ola Aina were also given serious consideration.
Eventually, Everton secured the £4million signing of Maitland-Niles from Lyon with just hours remaining in the window.
According to respected journalist Christian Falk, who specialises in Bayern Munich transfer news, Everton came very close to signing Boey before turning to Maitland-Niles instead.
“There was interest in Sacha Boey from Hamburg and Fulham. But I can tell you that the most concrete interest came from Everton! Everton were really close,” Falk reports.
“There were talks with the side of Bayern Munich, with Max Eberl, but in the end, the Toffees decided for Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Lille on deadline day. This was hard for Bayern Munich, as they really thought they could offload the player.
“So, Bayern Munich now have to look and see if there’s an opportunity to move the player on to a club in Turkey or Saudi Arabia, where the transfer market still remains open (until Friday).
“But Everton would have been the big hope for FC Bayern in terms of getting a deal for Boey. In the end, the deal was off.”
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Everton’s crazy deadline day unfolds
A move for Boey ultimately didn’t come to fruition, and now Everton will have to rely on Maitland-Niles at right-back this season.
Merlin Rohl, naturally a midfielder, has performed well in the position so far this term, while Jake O’Brien filled in there for almost all of 2025/26. James Garner has shown he can be effective at right-back too, so Moyes does have some other makeshift options.
The hunt for a new right-back was far from the only drama on deadline day.
After selling Beto to Fiorentina, Everton were working hard to sign a new striker and believed they had got their man when agreeing a £40million deal for Monaco’s Folarin Balogun.
But in a dramatic twist, issues emerged during Balogun’s medical and ultimately, the player decided to walk away from the move.
Everton pushed for late alternatives.
They submitted an offer to sign Joshua Zirkzee on an initial loan deal, but that was rejected by Manchester United.
And now, TEAMtalk has exclusively revealed that The Toffees made verbal offer worth £45million to sign West Ham forward Taty Castellanos in the final hours of the window.
Ultimately Everton didn’t sign a Beto replacement, leaving Thierno Barry as the only recognised senior striker at the club.
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