Everton boss David Moyes has a huge selection headache to contend with when it comes to choosing his starting XI – and that could see him follow in Thomas Tuchel’s footsteps.
Everton have started the current Premier League season in decent form, but their results may differ once players head to the Africa Cup of Nations.
With that in mind, the January transfer window remains a huge period for the club, not only with their current cohort of African stars being away, but with a scope for new ones to come in.
However, despite their obvious shortage at right-back, it could well be that David Moyes copies current England boss Thomas Tuchel to save money – with the latter having used Adam Aznou on his unfavoured side at Bayern Munich.
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David Moyes could get on board with Thomas Tuchel’s last-chance saloon
Thomas Tuchel was manager of Bayern Munich for just over a year, winning the Bundesliga in his inaugural campaign. However, he failed to take home any silverware in the 2023-24 season, leading to his departure before Tuchel became England’s manager at the start of January 2025.
The current Three Lions boss was unfortunate that his spell as Bayern chief coincided with Bayer Leverkusen having a superb run of form under Xabi Alonso, but he also suffered an injury crisis.
Notably, current Manchester United right-back Noussair Mazraoui was battling a calf injury when Tuchel was in charge, whilst Konrad Laimer was out with a knee issue.
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That left Joshua Kimmich to come in, though his switch left major gaps in the centre of the park.
And as a result, then-17-year-old Aznou was used by Tuchel as a right-back in training in the hopes of slotting into the role seamlessly.
If the current Three Lions gaffer was willing to put him in there alongside the world’s best players, there’s no reason Moyes can’t – at least while Aznou isn’t getting game time over Vitaliy Mykolenko.
Everton need Adam Aznou for the long-term and a roll of the dice is natural
Seamus Coleman’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, Jake O’Brien and James Garner have been used outside of their centre-back and central midfield roles respectively, and Nathan Patterson continues to falter with a lack of form and injuries.
It’s clear that Everton need an out-and-out right-back for the long-term, but they may as well try Aznou there if he’s not playing on his favoured left side as it is.
Links to Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly would effectively make Aznou the third-choice left-back at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, and so trying him out at right-back would do no harm whatsoever in terms of his game time.
It’s clear that Aznou somewhat impressed Tuchel two years ago, and that is a glowing rendition for his talents. Whether David Moyes goes ahead with it is another question, but the experiment is there for the taking.