David Moyes has revealed just how close he came to rejoining Everton.
Moyes was in the running for a surprise return to Goodison Park in December 2019 following Marco Silva’s sacking but ultimately lost out to Carlo Ancelotti.
The 60-year-old has since taken the reins with West Ham for a second spell during which he led them to Europa Conference League glory last season.
But Moyes has detailed the process that almost led to another stint with the Blues which extended to talks with now-outgoing supremo Farhad Moshiri.
“When I was getting offered the West Ham job I had actually been in Germany with Moshiri to take the Everton job,” he told beIN Sports.
“I was [in talks] with the people who ran Everton at the time. [It was] absolutely done, until in the meeting my telephone had run out of battery and I’d asked if it could be charged.
“In the meeting my phone rang and it was [West Ham co-owner] David Sullivan, in the middle of the meeting with Everton at the time.
“I had to say ‘I can’t speak to you just now because I’m in another meeting’.
“Carlo Ancelotti got sacked that night and they changed track and took Carlo Ancelotti.
“That night I was in Germany and Carlo lost his job. Actually I was due to sign the papers the day before and because of that they jumped and took Carlo.
“David Sullivan had phoned me and said about coming back to West Ham and I thought, ‘definitely’, once that had gone away.”
“He knew because when he phoned, I phoned him back and said ‘David, I think I’m going to be joining Everton because I’m with them just now’.
“The next day when I got back, Everton didn’t make more contact and I phoned up David Sullivan and said ‘If it’s still there…’.”