Everton in their current state would not have been a good move for Conor Gallagher in the January transfer window, insider Dean Jones has claimed.

What's the word?

The England international was the subject of late interest from the Toffees following the sale of Anthony Gordon, but a move never happened and he stayed put as the deadline passed.

The appointment of Sean Dyche as manager was not enough to convince him to move to Everton, who are currently in a relegation battle, as the Toffees failed to make a single signing in the January window.

Speaking to Football FanCast, Jones claimed that the toxic atmosphere around the club, as well as Frank Lampard's exit, meant that it was not the right place for Gallagher to move to.

He said: "Everton was never going to be the right move for him.

"If it was ever going to be the right move, it was when Frank Lampard was at the club, not when he has left the club. So that was an issue.

"And he's obviously heard enough about the state of things there that he's not interested."

Disastrous window

Everton started January in desperate need of reinforcements to help battle against relegation and ended the window weaker than they began it.

Although Gordon's departure brought in a lot of money, with a reported fee of around £45m, a lack of replacement has meant that they have lost firepower up front, having already struggled in that area with just 15 goals in 20 league games.

The failed loan signing of Arnaut Danjuma, in addition to their failure to land Gallagher, meant that Everton did not bring in a single new body, and Dyche will now have his work cut out in helping the current squad improve to try to avoid a first-ever relegation from the Premier League.

Sacking Lampard during the window was arguably always going to have repercussions as far as doing transfer business was concerned, and perhaps the board would think twice if they had the time again, having failed to improve their short-term fortunes in the period since.