What can Everton supporters expect from Merlin Röhl?

After a busy summer transfer window at Everton, transfer deadline day saw just one new player come through the doors, 23-year-old central midfielder Merlin Röhl, who joined the club from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg on loan with an obligation to buy.

Röhl came onto the Bundesliga scene in the Fall of 2023, after joining SC Freiburg from Ingolstadt, where he’d made 54 appearances in the second and third tiers of German football.

The 6’-3" German quickly became a regular in the side, starting 17 games and notching three goals and assists that season. He also earned himself a nomination for Bundesliga Rookie of the Month in November 2023.

He scored some beautiful goals that season, including a fantastic solo effort against RB Leipzig, where he held off multiple defenders while driving through midfield with the ball at his feet, and a brilliant outside-the-box volley against Borussia Mönchengladbach. 

His three assists that season came mostly from wide areas, where he showcased his passing range with some well-weighted low-driven crosses, as opposed to the short link-up play he was more accustomed to in the centre of the park.

Unfortunately for Röhl, injury struggles curtailed some of his progress last season, appearing in only 19 matches with 11 starts after missing several months of action with both a high ankle sprain and a heel injury.

A midfielder who can occupy several different roles, some of his best games came when playing in a position slightly further up the pitch, occupying the space behind the striker. However, he’s also played games as part of a double pivot in central midfield, and occasionally appeared on the flanks as an inverted winger.

Over the summer, he played as a left-sided central midfielder in a 4-3-3 while captaining the Germany U21 side at the 2025 European Championships.

Versatility is probably Röhl’s greatest strength; he does a lot of things really well, but maybe nothing spectacularly well. He’s got great energy, links play well in midfield, can test the keeper from distance, and gets stuck into tackles. But he probably isn’t going to score loads or notch a ton of assists.

In 2023-24, he ranked sixth in the team with 1.5 shots per 90 and sixth in the team with 19 chances created. Five combined goals and assists placed him fifth at the club, and 1.3 successful dribbles per 90 placed him second.

His shooting statistics took a hit last year, dropping down to just 0.3 per 90, as did his chances created. But he still ranked third overall for successful dribbles per 90.

The area of his game that should lend itself best to the Premier League is his ability to win the ball high up the pitch. In both his seasons with Freiburg, he ranked first in the squad for possession won in the opposition's final third, and in the top three for possession won in midfield. 

For Everton, this is where he should really help the team. In matches like the one against Wolves last weekend, when the team required additional legs and defensive solidity to see out the game, replacing one of the forward line with Röhl will provide that.

As David Moyes said himself, he brings something different to the midfield options currently at his disposal. In addition, signing young but experienced foreign players to bolster an already strong squad is a low-risk, high-reward strategy that’s proven highly successful for clubs like Brighton and Bournemouth. 

It’s not the right-back most Everton supporters were hoping for, but it’s a signing to be hopeful about nonetheless. 

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