- World Cup kicks off today and Moyes’ recruitment team should be all over it
- Everton need a right-back, a midfielder, a striker and cover wide
- Five names worth keeping a close eye on over the next few weeks
The 2026 World Cup gets underway today. Forty-eight teams, sixty-four games, and somewhere in among all of it, the players who will define next summer’s transfer market. For Everton, with genuine positions to fill and a manager who has been uncharacteristically vocal about his recruitment ambitions, this tournament matters. Here are five names worth watching.
Azzedine Ounahi — Morocco (Girona)
Cast your mind back to Qatar 2022 and the midfielder who made Luis Enrique stop and ask, out loud, where on earth that boy had come from. Ounahi was the revelation of that tournament – tireless, technically sharp, the engine at the heart of Morocco’s extraordinary run to the semi-finals.
He joined Marseille off the back of it and, if we are being honest, never quite kicked on the way everyone expected.
Now 25, he is at a crossroads. Girona were relegated from La Liga last season, and Ounahi contributed seven goal involvements – five goals, two assists – from midfield despite the club’s struggles. He is available. His market value has dropped from the post-Qatar highs.
Morocco are a genuine force at this tournament, with fixtures against Brazil, Scotland and Haiti in the group stage, meaning Ounahi will get significant game time.
Everton need a midfielder who can carry the ball, cover ground and contribute in the final third. Ounahi, at the right price following a summer in which his club were relegated, ticks most of those boxes. If he performs at this World Cup the way he did in Qatar, the queue will form quickly. Get there first.
Takefusa Kubo — Japan (Real Sociedad)
Everton were linked with Kubo last summer before apparently baulking at Real Sociedad’s asking price. He is back on the radar – or should be. A tricky, direct winger who prefers the right flank, he is exactly the kind of player Moyes’ attack currently lacks.
His numbers last season were modest – four assists and two goals in 27 games – but Kubo at a World Cup is a different animal. Japan should be genuinely competitive in North America, which means he will get his moments. If he takes them, expect his price to go up sharply.
The question is whether Everton move early enough. They have form for admiring players from a distance until someone else acts.
Ayase Ueda — Japan (Feyenoord)
Yes, him again. If you have read our piece from this morning on why Everton are preparing an offer for Ueda, you will know the numbers already. But it is worth saying this: a strong World Cup for Japan – and they could genuinely make a run – transforms this transfer completely.
Ueda as Eredivisie top scorer is one thing. Ueda, as a World Cup striker performing on the biggest stage, is a different conversation, and a different price tag.
Everton need to move before the tournament does its work. The offer being prepared right now is the right call.
Tajon Buchanan — Canada (Villarreal)
An interesting one. Buchanan struggled at Inter Milan, moved to Villarreal on loan and then permanently, and quietly put together a decent 2025-26 – seven goals and an assist from wide right.
Canada are hosting the tournament on home soil, which means the atmosphere around their games will be extraordinary and the scrutiny on their players intense. Buchanan can play right wing and right-back, which is exactly the kind of versatility Moyes tends to value. At 26, he is the right age. Worth a look.
Georgios Vagiannidis — Greece (Sporting CP)
The least headline-grabbing name on the list but potentially the most relevant. Vagiannidis is a right-back at Sporting CP, 22 years old, and has been mentioned in connection with Everton’s search for cover in that position more than once this summer.
Greece are outsiders but they will be competitive, and Vagiannidis is their first-choice right-back. A solid tournament – even a couple of composed performances – gives Everton’s recruitment team something concrete to assess before making a move.
Right-back is the first priority of this window. Vagiannidis might just be the answer.
The window opens on June 15. The World Cup ends on July 19. That is five weeks in which the market shifts, prices move and decisions get made. Moyes wants lots of new players. North America is where some of them might be found.
