Everton writers Joe Thomas and Chris Beesley look ahead to the position that tops their summer wishlists
The two teams walk out ahead of the Premier League match between Everton and Chelsea. Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
The two teams walk out ahead of the Premier League match between Everton and Chelsea. Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
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While most of the focus will be on the final seven games in an exciting season, there are other issues occupying minds at Everton.
One of those is the summer transfer market, one in which the Blues will seek to add another layer of depth to the threadbare square they started to strengthen 12 months ago. Talks are expected to take place over another season on Merseyside for Jack Grealish, while Merlin Rohl’s loan deal becoming permanent is close to being sealed.
Looking ahead to the summer months, Everton writers Joe Thomas and Chris Beesley identify where their priority would be if they were making the decisions.
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Joe Thomas
I think the answer to this question is pretty straightforward and I don’t feel many reading this will disagree. I do feel there are big decisions to be made over the strikers and I would probably be in the hunt for an experienced central midfielder to complement the options Everton already have in that area. But Everton’s weak spot is clearly at full-back and none more so that on the right.
Seamus Coleman has been excellent and his influence remains essential, but for all the value of having him around the squad - be it as a player or coach - he is not the future in the position he has performed to such high levels in for so long.
I do think Nathan Patterson has been unfortunate - across his Everton career and this season. There have been spells when I thought he showed real promise but injury has prevented him from having a clear run at this spot for so long. He played well when called upon in January and given Everton do not have a natural alternative, at least when Coleman is not available, he can count himself unfortunate not to have had more opportunities. It is clear that David Moyes does not see him as his first choice.
Jake O’Brien was excellent last season and has fought hard during this campaign but he is a centre back. He has been a colossus in his favoured position when called upon and that is where his future should lie. And as good as James Garner has been when pulled out of the midfield, he has been one of the best midfielders in the Premier League this season and exploiting his versatility simply means sacrificing a key player from the middle.
I think for all the progress that has been made there are some obvious ‘easy wins’ in terms of developing this team and that is no clearer than at right back. Having an option that is defensively capable but that has an attacking instinct would make this team far more coherent and probably give the likes of Tyler Dibling a better chance of settling in because of the support and freedom they would offer. Everton have left it too long to get a right back, surely they cannot let the status quo prevail into next season.
Everton’s transfer priority this summer needs to be a position they should have prioritised last summer and that is the full-back areas. Think about who David Moyes had in those two areas when he finished as Blues boss the first time around... Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines, the club’s best pairing of the modern era.
The two of them are still alongside him now, Coleman as club captain, lesser spotted on the pitch these days, and Baines as first-team coach. The Scot must wish he had a time machine to turn back the clock with them both.
As game as Jake O’Brien has been filling in at right-back for the past 14 months in order to establish himself as a Premier League player and as well as he’s done at times – earning the moniker of ‘The Cork Cafu’ from this correspondent – if Everton are to take things on to the next level, then they need to get a specialist in there rather than a 6ft 6in centre-half. Meanwhile, question marks also surround the other side of defence. Vitalii Mykolenko is now set to enter the final three months of his current contract. Given that the Blues shelled out £17million on him, it might seem something of a financial own goal to risk losing him for free so presumably they want to offer him a new deal to protect the value of their asset.
Regardless of what happens with the Ukraine international, it’s an area where Moyes should be looking to upgrade though. It also seems clear that he feels that another recruit from last summer, Adam Aznou remains a long way from filling those shoes as well.
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