Everton have been linked with a transfer bid for a World Cup star with plenty of top-level experience - but will it happen?
Heading into the last month of the transfer window, the single biggest need which Everton have yet to address is the right-back position. Having gone through the 2025/26 season with only a sticking plaster to cover an evident hole, the Toffees are looking for a more permanent solution than playing Jake O’Brien out of position. They might just have found it.
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New reports suggest that Everton have made the first moves towards a deal for Atlético Madrid’s Nahuel Molina, an Argentina international who started the World Cup final and every match through the knockout stages of the tournament. Standing in their way, supposedly, are Juventus. So can Everton pull of a possible coup before deadline day?
Everton interested in signing Nahuel Molina – reports
Nahuel Molina moved to Spain from Udinese in 2022placeholder image
Nahuel Molina moved to Spain from Udinese in 2022 | Getty Images
A handful of stories had already suggested that Everton held an interest in Molina, but the most recent – from Juventus-focussed outlet TuttoJuve – claims that they have opened initial talks to gauge whether a deal can be done.
Those talks are not at an advanced stage, according to their report, and if they make any headway they could find themselves up against the Old Lady in a bidding war. Juventus are tracking his situation and have supposedly had the 28-year-old on their shortlist for some time.
TuttoJuve’s story doesn’t suggest a likely price point if negotiations do move forward, but a year ago Bournemouth were allegedly ready to pay around €20m (£17.1m) only to be turned down by the player. That provides a starting point, although he may be even more affordable this summer as he only has one season left on his contract with Atlético Madrid.
Atlético are prepared to sell as Molina has gradually become less important to Diego Simeone’s side – just 13 of his 26 appearances in La Liga were starts last season despite his positional versatility. Able to play both as a right-back and as a winger, Molina found himself knocked down the pecking order despite the fact that he was competing for two different spots.
Still, he was good enough for Scaloni and perhaps Juventus, and would likely represent an upgrade on an out-of-position centre-half. If the story proves to be true – and as it stands it remains a story going around the more speculative news outlets without concrete corroboration from reliable sources – then it could well be a deal which makes a big difference to Everton’s odds of success next season.
Why Nahuel Molina could be a fine signing for Everton
Molina has 65 caps for Argentina to his nameplaceholder image
Molina has 65 caps for Argentina to his name | Getty Images
There’s no doubt that Molina’s performances did decline slightly last year. Perhaps that was a result of being rotated in and out of the starting line-up at the Metropolitano, or perhaps he was rotated because he was struggling for form, but either way he was a little below par in several statistical areas, especially in one-on-one situations.
Not that he was all that far below par. He still won 53% of his ground duels, still completed crosses at an impressive rate – he provided two goals and two assists in the league – and actually forced more turnovers than he had the previous year. If the last season represented something close to Molina’s floor, then it was scarcely disastrous. And his ceiling remains rather high.
An excellent technician who is comfortable with the ball at his feet, press resistant and able to take on opposing defenders, Molina is strong in possession and has enough positional sense and good judgement in the tackle to be a solid defensive asset as well. He is, perhaps, something of a jack-of-all-trades, but he has few glaring weaknesses save for his non-existent aerial presence.
He would certainly provide David Moyes with a full-back who can support the attack more effectively than anyone available to him last year, and he has a wealth of experience. If he is interested in the move – and if Juventus stay out of the way – then it’s hard to argue that it wouldn’t be a potentially strong signing based on the likely price point.
It remains to be seen whether a deal can be done. Molina has already rejected a move to Bournemouth and may not like the idea of playing for a mid-table Premier League side any more a year on. Or the deal may simply be a fiction from the gossip columns. It would hardly be the first of the summer – but from an Everton standpoint, it’s certainly a deal which makes plenty of sense.