Can Everton emulate last season’s fifth place finish in the Premier League? It looks like a tall order, with rival clubs spending big in order to try and guarantee some success, although the Toffees look set to be formidable opponents next term, especially with the latest news regarding fresh arrivals.

The Guardian report that the Merseyside club are all about plenty of new signings before the season starts. David Moyes reckons as many as half a dozen new names could be added to the Everton squad list, will he be splashing the cash or making some shrewd acquisitions from the Championship a la Cahill and Jagielka?

But Moyes has revealed he wants five more additions before the end of August: “I think we’ll be working right up until the window closes like everyone else. We need to bring in probably five or six players and we haven’t brought any in yet. We need to be quite busy in the coming weeks. We’re missing bodies and we’ve got injured players not available. Our numbers are so short and we’ve got injuries, too.”

Their biggest money signing could well be Joao Moutinho, a player who featured regularly for Portugal during Euro 2008. Chelsea have ruled out a move for the Sporting Lisbon midfielder and it seems as thugh Everton are in the box seat for his signature.

“The arrival of Joao Moutinho is a big possibility for us,” Everton director Keith Wyness said.