I imagine this is correct, but a player can’t move anywhere until a bid has been made and accepted. Without an accepted bid, there is no option for the player to move to Everton.
Just a bit fed up with this ridiculous reasoning whereby if a player joins Forest or Southampton it must mean that they have rejected an offer from Everton in the process. As if we are always ready and willing to purchase whatever crap player that Forest are after.
I can see players perhaps choosing West Ham over Everton right now, but it was only this time last year that Onana chose Everton over West Ham, a story that was documented by actual bids from both clubs and quotes from Onana.