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Everton reportedly had a late bid rejected for Stuttgart winger Jamie Leweling on Monday night – and while the approach itself is now old news, it perhaps tells us something more interesting about the Toffees’ Deadline Day thinking. According to Royal Blue Mersey, Everton made an offer for the Germany international before Stuttgart turned it down. There is no suggestion at this stage that Everton have returned with another bid, so this isn’t a story about Leweling suddenly arriving at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Instead, it adds another name to what has become a remarkably varied list of players pursued during the closing stages of the window. Strategy or Deadline Day opportunism? Everton are closing in on Folarin Balogun from Monaco, while Jack Grealish is expected to return on loan from Man City and a deal has been agreed with Lyon for the versatile Ainsley Maitland-Niles. There has also been the pursuit of Fulham right-back Kenny Tete, while Parma midfielder Mandela Keita has emerged as another late possibility. Now we can add Leweling, predominantly a winger, to that list. Some of this can clearly be explained by departures. Iliman Ndiaye is heading to City, Nathan Patterson is set to join Torino and Tim Iroegbunam is also expected to leave. It may simply be Everton reacting to those exits and taking opportunities where they appear. But the range of targets also makes it difficult from the outside to identify one obvious Deadline Day strategy. A striker, two different right-back options, a central midfielder, Grealish and another winger represents a fairly broad sweep of the market. Perhaps that is exactly the point. David Moyes has repeatedly spoken about wanting greater depth, and Deadline Day often becomes less about finding the perfect player and more about which of several carefully considered options can actually be done. The Leweling bid may have gone nowhere. But added to everything else happening around Everton, it offers another glimpse into just how many plates the club have been spinning in the final hours of the window. Whether that equates to a strategy or is akin to a bad dad shopping for presents on Christman Eve (cheers to Jim Keoghan for that analogy), I’ll let you decide. For updates on the Toffees throughout the season, take a look at our LIVE! Premier League 2026/27 News, Transfers, Updates & Viral Moments page.