Everton seek £10m to help rebuild side

Everton's owner Bill Kenwright is trying to raise £10m to give his manager, David Moyes, the money for three new players.

Kenwright, who has been looking for extra funds over the past few weeks, is even considering remortgaging some of his own property to swell the coffers for Moyes after a shocking end to the season.

Kenwright will secure a new shirt sponsorship deal shortly, with a Thai company close to agreement, and he wants to release more money from a separate marketing deal with JJB Sports. There is also the option of a short-term loan from one of several football finance firms, bringing the cash reserves for Moyes to an acceptable level.

Moyes has complained that he has just £1.5m plus whatever money he raises in sales to work with. But in the past few days he has become more optimistic as Everton have moved in for Fulham's Sean Davis. They are also keen on the Marseille centre-half Daniel van Buyten.

Davis would cost around £3.5m, with Tomasz Radzinski a possible makeweight. Van Buyten is in the £4.5m range.

Moyes' recent £7m bid for Leeds' Alan Smith was an early indication of his new spending power. He will also look to bring in extra cash through selling Radzinski and Thomas Gravesen, who is wanted by Charlton.

One player who will not be leaving soon is Wayne Rooney. Kenwright yesterday dismissed reports that he had been sold to Manchester United, saying: "It is always difficult to respond to rubbish. David Moyes and myself have discussed a combined response and it is - the article is laughable. No deal has ever been discussed, set up or agreed with Manchester United or, indeed, any other football club on the planet."

Two players who could be on their way to Old Trafford this week are Smith and the Argentinian centre-half Gabriel Heinze.

Relegated Leeds said yesterday that they expected Manchester United to return with an improved offer for Smith. "We discussed the situation at a board meeting [on Friday], but as yet no deal has been done," the Leeds director Peter Lorimer said. "We have offers from other clubs, but Alan has said he would like to go to Old Trafford. This is the situation and we will look at it again next week."

Heinze's arrival at Old Trafford, in a £6m transfer, moved closer on Saturday, when his club, Paris St-Germain, set up a £3.2m deal for the Nantes defender Sylvain Armand, who is seen as Heinze's replacement.