Osman, who was given his Everton debut by Moyes in 2003, believes that Everton must retain key players such as Jarrad Branthwaite, James Tarkowski and Jordan Pickford, while recruiting more leaders to bolster a rapidly thinning squad.
“A Moyes dressing room is hard, demanding,” he said. “Having spoke to a couple of the squad, they love the clarity and what he’s asking of them.
“A manager has to ask for that level and he always did that when I played for him. You also look at O’Brien, who has excelled at right-back when people thought he couldn’t do it. We need to make sure these people stay on the pitch.”
The failed pursuit of new Chelsea striker Liam Delap, who was spoken to by Moyes, shows that centre-forward – and more goals in the team – is a priority, along with a right-back, right-winger and central midfielder. Departures, though, mean that recruitment is needed in almost every position to provide squad depth.
The club are reportedly interested, external in Villareal striker Thierno Barry, who is currently playing for France in the European Under-21 Championship.
Everton have taken steps to streamline their process, moving away from a director-of-football model following the departure of Kevin Thelwell to a sports leadership team headed by new chief executive Angus Kinnear.
He has said that Everton will utilise experts in data and analytics, football operations, recruitment, talent ID and player trading as part of the club’s evolving approach.
Kinnear has also already met with supporters group the Fan Advisory Board – a far removal from the previous regime when former manager Dyche described communicating with then-owner Moshiri by “Whatsapp and the odd phone call”.
Osman has backed the new structure to succeed and added: “It’s time to get behind the new hierarchy and I expect they would lean into Moyes’ experience as much as they can. I trust David Moyes more than anyone.”
