Although Lescott told Moyes last week of his desire to leave, the home supporters made their feelings clear when the defender’s every touch was cheered throughout Friday’s friendly against Malaga at Goodison.

City have failed in bids of £15m and £18m for Lescott, with Everton telling the Eastlands outfit they have no intention of selling the 26-year-old.

Lescott has retained his place in England’s squad for Wednesday’s friendly against Holland in Amsterdam, but Leighton Baines misses out.

Everton ended a testing warm-up programme with a 2-1 win and a much-improved performance against Malaga.

And Tim Cahill believes a confident squad are now raring for the season opener at home to Arsenal on Saturday evening.

“It was a great result,” said the Australian. “We had a bit of criticism last week for the way we performed against Blackpool but we’ve had a rest, reassessed and we’ve put out a great performance.

“I think playing against a team like Malaga, who are good technically, is going to stand us in good stead for the rest of the season.

“We got a few goals against them and now we can’t wait for the season to start. It’s important we start it well – even if Arsenal are a difficult team. We’ll start from zero and hopefully we can climb up the ladder as soon as possible.”