Moyes leaves no Stones unturned

David Moyes was desperate to bolster his Everton squad ahead of the January transfer window slamming shut late last night.

Following the disappointment of having to pull out of the Leroy Fer deal following question marks being raised over his knee following a medical, Moyes continued the hunt right up until the last minute.

For a while there was a lot of excitement based around Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo with a fee of around £9million floating around, but in the end nothing could be agreed between the two clubs and he went on to play, captain and score in their 2-1 Copa Del Rey semi-final with Atletico Madrid last night.

All eyes were certainly on Spain when Moyes's next option appeared to be Real Betis striker Ruben Castro, but that appeared to end before it really got going.

There was also rumours of a fresh move for Fer, possibly a loan deal, but again that ended fairly swiftly.

So in the end a pretty disappointing transfer deadline day, but it wasn't without one signing.

18-year-old England U19s right-back John Stones opted against joining Wigan Athletic and instead signed for Everton when David Moyes made a last minute swoop for the Barnsley boy.

At a cost of £3million he doesn't come cheap and he's also signed a five-and-a-half year contract, so Moyes must expect big things from this lad.

"I`m very happy, I was waiting for the call. It was Everton and Wigan who were in for me and we decided on Everton. It`s a great club with a great manager.' Stones told The Post.

He added: "I`ve met David Moyes. He`s a nice man and I`m looking forward to working with him. I can`t wait to come into training and go from there.

"It`s such a good club. I feel that I can learn from the manager and the players who are here. I will benefit from that."

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