Everton’s search for a new right-back drags on, and patience is running out
Another day, another update on Everton’s right-back hunt. Another mention of Alistair Johnston. Another sign it’s no closer to being solved.
According to the Liverpool Echo’s Joe Thomas, insiders at Everton have greeted Celtic’s cooling stance on Alistair Johnston with scepticism, given how urgently David Moyes needs the position filled.
Talks stalled after Celtic held firm on a fee north of £15m, well above Everton’s opening £12m offer, and there’s now a sense inside the club that a deal some believed was close is now drifting.
It’s a familiar shape to the summer. Moyes personally called Celtic boss Martin O’Neill about Johnston. Scouts watched him play the full 90 minutes of Celtic’s season opener. And still, weeks on, there’s no bid confirmed and no resolution in sight.
To be fair, this is an issue that predates Moyes and shows no sign of ending under him either.
Djed Spence has been mentioned without any real movement. Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s name has cropped up. Nahuel Molina looks set for Roma instead. Every avenue explored so far has either stalled or gone nowhere, and Seamus Coleman’s long-term successor remains unsigned with pre-season close to being done.
All it’s done has filled column inches and web pages. Nothing more.
For a fanbase that’s watched this film many times before many times – various positions, not just right-back – the mood is no longer anticipation. It’s fatigue.
Everton know what they need. Everyone does. Getting it over the line is proving to be the hard part, and the clock on the transfer window keeps ticking. *Sigh.
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Gary is editor for ReadEverton. He has many years experience of sports writing behind him after deciding (belatedly) that the world of accountancy wasn't for him. His work has been featured on (among many others) BBC Sport and The Metro. He has written on many sports, but considers himself an expert in football and F1. When not writing and editing he likes to go to the cinema and sip a lovely cold pint of Guinness (not always at the same time).
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