Moyes: Everton's Deadline Day Move was Knocked Back

Everton manager David Moyes has revealed the Toffees failed with a late bid for Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo on transfer deadline day.

The Merseyside outfit were understood to be willing to shell out around £9m for the 27-year-old on the final day of the January window, but the La Liga side held out for a higher fee and the transfer fell through.

"We tried [for Negredo], but it didn't work. They wanted a lot more money than we offered. We wanted to add players if we could who could go into the team and we tried to do that right up to the end, but for reasons out of our control it didn't happen. It wasn't for the want of trying, that is for sure," Moyes told Goal.com.

Negredo, who was part of Spain's Euro 2012 winning squad, has scored 15 goals from 24 appearances in all competitions for Sevilla this season. The Real Madrid product is strong, both on the ground and in the air, and is known for smart link-up play and an excellent work rate.

Moyes Considering Jelavic Recall

Meanwhile, Moyes explained the reasons for dropping striker Nikica Jelavic from the Everton starting line-up for the match against West Bromwich Albion at Goodison Park in midweek.

The Croatian was in sublime form when he joined the Toffees from Rangers a year ago, finding the net 11 times in 16 appearances in all competitions. However, the 27-year-old has struggled this season, with just seven goals from 24 matches.

Victor Anichebe was picked to lead the attack against the Baggies, with Moyes claiming he wanted to take some of the pressure off Jelavic but also added the goal was to get him back in form.

"It's been something I'd been considering for a while. I wanted to give him every opportunity to get his goals. I wanted to give him the chances to do it. But it just didn't quite happen. I decided in the end to give him a breather, and I thought Victor did well in the game. He gave us something different. I hope we'll get Jela back to form. That's the key to it," ESPN quoted Moyes as saying.

Jelavic is expected to start Saturday's home game against Aston Villa.