Everton emerge as favourites to sign Juventus star who is ready to accept exit offer

Everton are now believed to be the favourites to sign a Juventus star who is ready to accept offers to leave Turin this summer.

Pressure on as Moyes looks to keep Everton’s European hopes alive

On Monday, the Toffees were threatening to all but end Man City’s title hopes, but David Moyes‘ side were eventually undone.

Four minutes into the seventh minute of stoppage time, Jeremy Doku curled the ball into the top corner to make it 3-3 and rob Everton of what would have been one of the results of their season.

The Belgian winger summed up a quite extraordinary second half at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, having opened the scoring with an exquisite first-half finish before completing his brace deep into stoppage time to deny Moyes a famous victory.

What had unfolded in between was staggering.

City, who had dominated possession for the opening 45 minutes and led at the break, conceded three times in nine second-half minutes as Everton turned the game entirely on its head.

Thierno Barry pounced on a dreadful Marc Guéhi backpass to equalise, Jake O’Brien headed Everton in front from a corner moments later, and Barry finished off a rapid counter to make it 3-1 with the home fans already celebrating.

It felt complete, deserved, and enormous. Then Haaland struck. Then Doku struck again.

The stadium went from euphoria to disbelief in the space of eight minutes.

Moyes was blunt in his assessment afterwards — pointing to a second goal conceded so poorly as the main reason for being unable to hold on, even as he acknowledged that a point against City is no disaster.

The Toffees were also incensed at a penalty that never came, with Bernardo Silva appearing to grab Merlin Röhl at a corner, an incident VAR declined to act on.

Had it been given and converted, the story of this match would have been very different indeed.

As it stands, Everton sit tenth in the table with 48 points and three games remaining, three points adrift of Brighton in sixth.

Four points have been dropped in the dying minutes across this and the previous weekend’s defeat to West Ham — a haul that, had it been collected, would have left the club sitting squarely in the European conversation with games to spare.

European football remains mathematically possible. The margin for error, though, is now extremely slim.

The performances, however, have been enough to attract attention.

Behind the scenes, Moyes and his recruitment team have been quietly laying the groundwork for a summer that could shape what this club becomes.

Everton emerge as favourites to sign Federico Gatti from Juventus

According to TuttoSport, relayed by Sport Witness, Everton have been tracking Juventus centre-back Federico Gatti for several months and are now positioned at the front of the queue for his signature.

The 27-year-old Italian international is expected to leave the Allianz Stadium this summer after falling out of Luciano Spalletti’s favour — he has barely featured in any of Juventus’ Serie A starting line-ups in 2026, having recovered from a lengthy injury around the turn of the year.

He did manage a crucial goal against Roma in March, but his situation at the club has not improved, with the player apparently ready to leave in the event of suitable offers.

Everton’s months-long pursuit gives them a genuine head start over Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, both of whom are also considering him, with Fulham also monitoring the situation.

A fee of between £17 million and £22 million is understood to be sufficient to do business — a relatively modest outlay for a defender who brings Italy international experience and dominant aerial ability in defensive situations.

He is not without weaknesses.

The ‘humble‘ Gatti, who was a bricklayer just seven years ago, is not known for his ability with the ball at his feet, and that limitation has drawn criticism over the course of his career.

But his strength, physicality and leadership qualities — demonstrated consistently in high-pressure moments for both club and country — represent exactly the kind of character Everton will need if they are to push for European qualification in the coming seasons.

At the price being quoted, the value is hard to argue with.

Everton need to win their remaining three games to keep that European dream alive, but whatever happens in the final weeks of the campaign, the summer is already taking shape.