Moyes pushes England case for midfield duo

David Moyes has been discussing the England prospects of two of his best performers over the first 11 games of the 2025/26 Premier League season, with the manager reserving special praise once again for James Garner.

Talking to the official Everton site, Moyes spoke of the Birkenhead-born midfielder’s claims for inclusion in future England call-ups while also mentioning Jack Grealish, whose omission from Thomas Tuchel’s latest squad has again been a topic of conversation.

Since arriving in 2022 in a £9m deal from Manchester United, Garner has established himself as an automatic starter in the centre of Everton’s team while also demonstrating his versatility when being asked to fill in at both left-back and right-back this season.

His stated preference is to operate as a defensive midfielder, a role he filled in pre-season against United in the Premier League Summer Series, but his most recent outing, in the 2-0 home win over Fulham, was at right-back.

With the club currently searching for upgrades in both full-back positions in the coming windows, the hope is that the need for Garner to be deployed out of position to help the team will only be temporary but he has his gaffer’s full support.

“He’s been fantastic since I came in. I didn’t realise how good he was,” Moyes said of Garner. “He’s been so good.

“He’s played great in midfield and I’ve said a couple of times recently he’s getting closer to being talked about for England because of his performances.

“He’s played fullback as well; he’s done a brilliant job for us. So for [Tuchel] to try and select a team, with discussions all week about Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden… all I’m saying is Jimmy is one of the best young midfield players who in the future has a chance of getting a call-up.”

For his part, Garner recently spoke of his desire to represent his country, saying:

“I want to get into that England team – that’s my long-term goal. I know it’s not going to happen overnight but I definitely feel like I’ve got the quality."

Grealish, meanwhile, has been another positive part of Everton’s somewhat mixed start to the season. Having quickly emerged as one of the assists leaders in the Premier League, he scored his first goal for the Blues in the dramatic win over Crystal Palace and came within inches of doubling his tally for the club at Sunderland last week when he struck the post.

However, as his role at parent club, Manchester City, was reduced last season, he has faded from the England picture, something that both he and Moyes hope will change over the course of the season ahead of next year’s World Cup in North America.

“Jack’s been really good,” Moyes explained. “He’s helped us maintain the ball more, we’re up on numbers in terms of possession.

“His goals have been huge, I’m sort of driving home to him that it’s good being an assist maker but it’s even better being a goalscorer.

“He’s given us a real strength in how he plays. He and Iliman Ndiaye have played really, really well and probably changed the way we are, we wanted to evolve and become better and both those players give us that opportunity.

“He’s an incredible character, loves his football, watches and listens, which a lot of the modern players don’t so much, but Jack loves his football and Tuchel’s got a really difficult job [picking the squad].”