Andrew Johnson remained an Everton player last night, 24 hours after stating that he was “not in the frame of mind” to play in a friendly match against Preston North End, but the England forward is firmly expected to join Fulham in a £10.5million transfer, a record for the West London club, this weekend, leaving David Moyes, the Everton manager, to concentrate on luring top-class reinforcements to Goodison Park.

Keith Wyness, the Everton chief executive, issued a statement yesterday to deny that the club had received, let alone accepted, an offer from Fulham, but, with negotiations progressing well, the clubs expect a deal to be finalised in the coming days.

Johnson, who joined Everton for a club-record £8.6million fee little more than two years ago, has also attracted strong interest from Sunderland and Wigan Athletic, but he and his family are understood to favour a move to London. It appears that West Ham United, who have inquired about Johnson in the past, will not enter the bidding at this late stage.

Johnson's struggle to build on a successful start to his Everton career persuaded Moyes to listen to offers, but some at Goodison Park were still unsure about selling him until the trip to Preston on Tuesday evening.

Johnson was told before kick-off that negotiations with Fulham were at an advanced stage and promptly informed Moyes that he believed that he was not in the right frame of mind to play in the match, which Everton won 1-0. Although Johnson, in theory, could have scuppered the deal by playing and getting injured, his actions caused dismay within the club.

Everton have yet to make a significant foray into the transfer market this summer, Moyes scrutinising his targets as carefully as ever, but the sale of Johnson would leave them with between £25million and £30million to invest. A new centre forward - such as Darren Bent, of Tottenham Hotspur, or Diego Milito, of Real Zaragoza - is a priority, but Moyes has also been alerted to the availability of João Moutinho, the outstanding Portugal midfield player. Sporting Lisbon would demand up to £18million for Moutinho, 21, but Everton would consider such a deal only if it could be structured in a way that spread the payments over 12 months or more.

Moyes is continuing to weigh up whether to proceed with a bid to sign another midfield player, such as Darren Fletcher, of Manchester United, or, more realistically, Mehmet Topal, of Galatasaray.

One Everton player who has caught the eye during their pre-season matches is Jose Baxter, a 16-year-old forward, whose potential has already drawn inevitable comparisons to Wayne Rooney.

“It has been a great experience being around the senior players,” Baxter said. “I've just got to try to stick around the first team and try to be involved as much as possible.”