Sean Dyche was speaking to preview Everton’s upcoming Premier League clash against Sheffield United

Sean Dyche has assured supporters that Everton are not waiting for players to depart before bringing new faces in and opened up on Alex Iwobi’s impending exit.

The Blues headed into this summer’s transfer window needing to upgrade and rebalance their squad, with a clear strategy finally in place. The club could not afford to gamble on its top-flight status by neglecting its forward line again.

And heading into deadline day, Youssef Chermiti, Beto, Jack Harrison and Arnaut Danjuma have all been recruited to bolster the club’s attack. Everton, however, remain in the market for new additions, while Alex Iwobi is expected to depart for Fulham.

The ECHO understands that the Blues and their Premier League rivals are in advanced talks over a transfer that would see Iwobi move to Craven Cottage on a permanent basis. Tom Cannon is also the subject of interest after being left out of the squad for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup win over Doncaster Rovers.

And asked if any outgoings would help fund incomings on deadline day, Dyche replied: “That’s the thing, so at the minute, and just to be clear, we are not waiting for that to happen [players to leave], then we are going to search; we are already in line.

“I don’t want to think we go, oh, quick, let’s go out and get someone; that is not the case. The money will be decided by the powers that be. What comes in, what is available to go out.

“One thing you might all know this, but one thing for fans to be aware of is that whatever money you get, you just don’t get it in one go.

“Everybody sort of has this thing that whoever pays £100million for someone, they think they go here is £100m. It doesn’t work like that.

“It is chunked down into different payments and different plans and that kind of stuff, and we have had to work hard to find different ways for that to work for us, so that has to be factored in as well.

“So the point is, if you physically got £20m in, you might be able to stretch that out for a couple of players, but it is rare that you physically get that £20m in a lump sum.

“Then it goes to the club, and then you say, ‘What out of that can we put back into a deal to make it work?'”

Iwobi joined Everton from Arsenal when Marco Silva was manager at Goodison Park in 2019. He cost an initial £28m, with the deal geared to rise to £34m with add-ons.

And asked if he was disappointed that Iwobi was looking to move on, Dyche said: “There’s usually a reason why players go elsewhere!

“So I’ll leave that to your imagination. But it’s pretty clear – there’s usually a reason why they want to go elsewhere.”

Dyche also opened up about the difficult decisions he has faced this summer in terms of allowing the younger members of his squad to depart as Cannon continues to be linked with a host of clubs in the Championship.

He said: “[Decisions on] all the young players, let me tell you, are very difficult because, on one hand trying to bring money in to support the club’s situation, on the other hand don’t want to lose young talent because you are trying to develop the club.

“It’s a tricky one that. It is a very tricky situation. But you have to make a judgement call on the player and on the business side of things and then join the dots and then make a decision.”