The Wheatley story turns on a familiar face at Goodison. Everton’s technical director Nick Cox spent years running Manchester United’s academy before crossing to Merseyside, and it is his relationship with the 20-year-old forward, more than David Moyes’s own scouting, that has put Everton at the front of the queue for the young striker.

Fabrizio Romano first flagged the interest on 1 August.

“Everton are interested in Man Utd talented striker Ethan Wheatley. Everton preparing a proposal to make formal approach with Man Utd soon for the 20-year-old forward,” he wrote.

Nine days on, a permanent exit looks the likelier outcome. Wheatley is expected to leave United for good this summer rather than head out on another loan, with Everton planning to sign him initially for the academy and give him a route into Moyes’s first team from there.

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Wheatley’s four minutes at United

Wheatley is a 6ft 2in Stockport-born forward who has spent 11 years inside the Manchester United academy. He is contracted at Old Trafford until 2028, with a club option for another 12 months, and was named United’s Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year, the club’s U18 academy award, for the 2023/24 season.

His senior football has come in bursts. He has made four first-team appearances, three of them Premier League cameos off the bench against Sheffield United, Crystal Palace and Arsenal.

The bulk of the last two seasons has been spent out on loan across three clubs. After an earlier spell at Walsall, he scored three times in 25 games at Northampton Town in the first half of 2025/26, then moved to Bradford City for the second half, where 12 League One appearances brought no goals.

Why Moyes would say yes

David Moyes, back in the Everton dugout since January 2025, has spent this window widening his attacking options after underwhelming returns from Beto and Thierno Barry last term. Merlin Rohl and Tyrique George have had their loans made permanent, and midfielder Hayden Hackney has arrived from Middlesbrough.

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Wheatley fits the profile: young, English, physically ready and financially digestible alongside those senior signings. He would give Everton a homegrown centre-forward with room to grow, the kind of long-term project Moyes has built past sides around.

Talks with United have not yet opened

Formal discussions between the clubs are still to begin, but Romano has framed the proposal as days away. The next move belongs to Everton, whose written approach is expected in the coming days and will force United to decide whether they are willing to sell one of their better academy prospects to a Premier League rival.

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