Replacing Coleman: Five potential options for Everton’s neglected right-back role

Don't be surprised if Kyle Walker pitches up. Surplus to requirements at Man City.

Man Utd or Liverpool out of the question, but Everton keeps him in the area and close to his family.

Possible, Mike – although he's done pretty well in Milan with a group of English (ish) cast offs like Tomori, Musah and Loftus-Cheek.

He might fancy hanging around for the food and the vibe.

The Italian press have claimed that 'failure has the face of [Kyle] Walker', providing a brutal assessment of the full-back's torrid time at AC Milan as uncertainty engulfs his career in Italy.

I’d read in a couple of places it was going badly tbh.

Come on, we all know it's going to be Coufal on a free! I seriously hope not…but I'd say it’s very likely.

I like the sound of the Romanian lad here but don't know much about him. No more players from African countries though please, we are already going to lose Gana (if he signs) Iliman and Beto for the next African Cup.

I’d be very surprised if Kyle Walker joined us seen as he's about 33 and on about £200k a week

Beto won't be going because his country didn't qualify.

We need a whole new right side for next season.

Walker-Peters would be a good shout for me because of his versatility and is also out of contract, but we will probably face a lot of competition for his signature.

I suspect Steve's right and we will end up with Coufal, because of the Moyes connection.

Taking us to the next level eh?

Agree with Steve @ 4... Coufal is the likeliest.

Spoke with a West Ham fan this morning and he said Coufal was okay, good on the ball but not great going forward. Guess he'll do a job.

On the other hand, he described another Hammer we've been linked with, Soucek, as "mustard"!

Walker-Peters is the only one who really makes sense, under 30, has Premier League experience, has versatility to play different positions. Don't know much about the others apart from Coufal.

Like Steve @ 4 says, it will probably be him with his previous Moyes association.

Kev @8,

As in keen as or slimy yellow stuff?

I could see Coufal coming as a squad option but I dearly hope we might prioritise a proper starting right-back too. Though O'Brien did a very admirable job last season, it's not his natural position and it's been an area of weakness for us for several years now.

A lot of decent young right-backs out there including the last two on the OP list. I like Givairo Read from Feyenoord but could see Moyes looking at Trai Hume at Sunderland.

The current situation appears to be:

Coleman, surely a squad right-back next season.
Patterson, surely on his way.
O'Brien, can play right-back if required.
Dixon, probably going on loan,
Garner, as O'Brien, though I'm not convinced.

This means only Coleman and the raw Dixon are currently the only real right-backs we have as Patterson looks likely to be sold or loaned out. Therefore Coufal and Walker-Peters would be timely acquisitions and both on a free.

We need 2 players for every position, getting Coufal and Walker-Peters will give us that, with Walker-Peters's ability to play left-back proficiently providing cover for left-back and competition for Mykolenko. Coleman will only play if there is a real injury crisis, or in the early rounds of the League Cup and FA Cup.

If the club decide only Coufal is needed, then I would like a new centre-back who can also play left-back or vice versa. Al Hilali appears to fit that bill and at £12.5M would not break the bank.

It will be very straightforward to improve the right-back slot for next season — because, for at least 2 seasons, we have had the worst right-back in the entire Premier League. Atrocious Saints had two better right-backs than us last season in Walker-Peters and Sugawara.

So Walker-Peters and Coufal would each be an instant (and low-cost) upgrade but still not especially good. If we got them in, I would hope it is as cover, not as the main new right-back.

Of the five named, the two Moroccans must be interesting. Very good value and obvious talent. Ratiu seems likely to get a move to a Champions League club.

In addition to those mentioned by Sam, others we keep getting linked with are:

- Tchatchoua of Verona
- Sanchez of Seville
- Van Ewijk of Coventry

In an ideal world, it would be great to sign someone like:

- Wesley of Flamengo
- Tiago Santos of Lille
- Sildillia of Freiburg

These three are probably a cut above, with Wesley looking a really good fit for a Moyes 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-3 formation.

Walker-Peters is perfect and only on £20k per week — as opposed to Walker, who is on £175k per week.

Peters is 28 and Walker is 33.

Walker-Peters will be on more than £20k,a week

Walker-Peters has to be a no-brainer. He is good player and has versatility. He has good experience in the Premier League and his wages would suit us. We should be prioritizing this signing.

After we sign him, we have adequate cover on the right. Focus should be more on strengthening the attacking positions of striker and right wing.

Ryan, that is his current salary.

Obviously, if there are other interested parties, then who offers the best salary is likely to prevail.

Mihir - Walker-Peters will have plenty of options. I think he’d be a good signing too but as a free agent he’ll have lots to choose from. I think RB is a position really worth investing in.

Walker-Peters may have better options, we will end up with Coufal I think unfortunately. However, O'Brien did reasonably well there I thought, so can cover that position between him and Patterson.

I would rather we spend money on some legs and goals from midfield and up top.

I've mentioned it on another thread but the free transfers we want we will need to have to offer big wages to get them over the line, as you say Robert and Dan, he will have better options.

I like Walker-Peters though and it would be a good signing on a free, giving us money to spend elsewhere.

As far as I'm concerned, we've only got Jake O'Brien who can be our right-back at present.

Patterson is a dud and I don't think he'll even be here next season, more than 3 years doing nothing but failing to impress 3 managers.

Young has gone.

Seamus may stay but there's no way he can do game time at this level consistently anymore, you might get 20 minutes out of him here and there but the body won't allow it anymore, unfortunately he hasn't been able to stay injury free in his 30s – unlike Ashley Young.

Crazy as it may seem, we may actually miss the option of having Young around the squad next season, from a purely playing side, it would have made more sense keeping him than Seamus.

Dan #19, or we will end up with Foucal, which has often been the case in our transfer dealings.

But I'm expecting better things from TFG than Chairman Bill gave us.

Walker-Peters is the obvious safe choice from the list. I think he is a decent player who will give us versatility for both full back positions.

I like the idea of bringing players in from Morocco. I have been impressed with them in the African Nations. I think there is value and hunger there to succeed. I just hope we get some early business done.

Pep came out the other week and said he wants a smaller squad, they have bought at least 5 more players in 2 windows.

Man Utd are going to spend another £100M on 2 players. The Red Shite have just spent £100M on one player. Chelsea are stockpiling more and more. This PSR or Financial Fair Play is doing well for the big guns, isn't it?

Eric 22, like what you did there.

Jim # 21, I agree; Patterson has had ample chance to nail down the right-back slot and failed to take it.

Full-back is also a critical position in modern football. More like a midfield position even in a back 4 – with different qualities required from an old 4-4-2 right-back.

It is worth really investing in quality in this position, especially when Mykolenko is limited (despite improving under Moyes).

What is a little disconcerting when looking through these articles and all the so-called player movements, clickbait trash, and rumours, is the scarcity of local talent being talked about. What happened?

This place is a hotbed, or at least was when I played many moons ago, of local talent and hungry highly skilled players – many who often went on to play very successfully for their local clubs – up until recent teams too. Has the system become that broken, or dictated to by money orientated agents that we cannot find any local talent to bring through?

Or has that well dried up with the age of cell phones, laptops and TikTok videos requiring the brain capacity of a goldfish that has been liberally hit over the head?

Answers on a postcard please (or on ToffeeWeb!)!

Jim Bennings @21,

I was actually in the 'Keep Young' camp too. He can play in a number of positions and is a good example to the younger players of the squad (now that diving seems to have mostly been eradicated from his game).

But then again, we don't know the details behind contract/non-contract offers.

Barry #26,

I'm with you on that. Young was originally brought in 2 years ago to be a squad player and I'm sure he could still do the job and provide useful cover.

As you say, though, it may have been that both parties were unable to agree a deal. I wouldn't be too surprised if he did re-sign before the season starts. Knowing Ashley, he's probably already started pre-season training on his own.

Barry #25, there is still masses of talent in the North-West but we haven't had the money to invest in our academy to anything like the same extent as our three big local rivals. Man City in particular have a lot of very good local boys who extremely good (along with the others they buy in).

But a few things have happened which make life harder for local youth.

1. The standard has gone up massively in the past 30 years. It's very hard to get a first-team appearance unless you are as good as internationals from around the world by the time you are 18 or 19.

2. A very high proportion of the best players in the Championship are foreign or loanees from Premier League clubs.

3. You can buy a seasoned international with Champions League experience and reasonable wage demands for about £15M to £25M. Any academy graduate with more than about 15 Premier League games under his belt is worth about £15M or more with a decent wage attached too.

4. There are clubs across Europe and beyond who exist for player development purposes only.

5. Coaching standards across the world mean that obscure footballing nations now regularly produce excellent footballers. Scotland are now ranked lower than the likes of Peru, Algeria and Panama – and miles behind South Korea, Japan, Ecuador and Morocco in terms of depth of talent.

The big thing really is academy investment and savvy use of the loan system. If you don't do that, you'll primarily have a team of foreign players with limited connection to the community the club represents.

The problem with the Everton academy is two fold.

The club is way down the pecking order of attracting players. Man City offer a private education, the best coaches and facilities, and a view that the kids are getting a Pep education. City have a good reputation of playing their kids.

We have poor coaches, don't play the kids, and have been forced to sell anything that moves.

I was horrified to hear a story that the youth coaches relayed to a younger intake group. It was how proud they were of selling a prospect for £4.5M to help with PSR. My jaw nearly hit the floor. Their proudest recent achievement was selling a prospect to avoid another points breach.

There seems to be a problem still on selecting kids with the right abilities. I've heard plenty of stories of friends and family getting favouritism for playing roles.

The club has been mismanaged for way too long. I just hope Moyes and the Friedkins bring an end to this bloody nonsense. Drag it into 2025.

Ian, i completely agree that the Academy needs a complete overhaul. But I also think Everton have a very good track record of playing the youngsters who are good enough to warrant first-team appearances. What we don't do (same as other clubs) is play kids who are destined for lower league careers (despite being championed by fans for unremarkable records in the very low standards of the U21s).

Man City release and loan large numbers of academy players who would be first-team squad players for us. They don't play kids because they are young, they play them because they are brilliant – easily better than seasoned internationals by the time they are 18 to 20.

If Lawrence and Samuels-Smith hadn't been sold to Man City and Chelsea respectively to save us from PSR and insolvency, they would be a lot closer to first-team games than they are for their new clubs.

Some interesting points on the academy.

I wouldn't say we haven't invested. We have spent a lot of money on facilities at Finch Farm, and contrary to differing opinions, academy players aren't cheap. The upkeep and cost in coaches' wages comes at cost to the club.

I personally would say we need to sort out the scouting system to tap into local talent on our doorstep. Make Everton attractive and the place young players want to go and have an opportunity, rather than being star-struck by the lure of Man City, Man Utd and them.

We absolutely should be tapping into the hotbed that is Merseyside grassroots football. But I'm not really concerned where they come from.

Unless someone can provide another example, the last team that was built around a core of local lads was Sir Alex's team. A lot of them from the Manchester area, with a few additions from other parts of the country and the globe.

On your point 4, Robert, Schalke eventually suffered from that policy. They could have put together a team of world beaters from their own academy, mostly local to Gelsenkirchen, but opted to sell. They are now about to go into their 3rd season in Bundesliga 2. I'll still go and watch them next season though.

I've often stated that there should always be closer synchronisation between the academy teams and the first team in terms of the style of play and system. It makes the transition smoother when young players are called upon to step up, as they will know their job.

Danny, agree with a lot of that but we really haven't invested in the academy to anything like the degree of our three big local rivals.

The RS do a huge amount of youth player recruitment and trading between ages 14 and 16 - with City not far behind. City are getting close to La Masia with what they are doing.

We can do it - I mention Atalanta on this score. They have Juve, AC Milan and Inter on their doorstep - but have the best academy of the lot at the moment.

Danny,

There should always be closer synchronisation between the academy teams and the first team in terms of the style of play and system. It makes the transition smoother when young players are called upon to step up, as they will know their job.

You've made this point countless times as if it's established academy 'wisdom' — like young players must be sent out on loan rather than played in the first team.

But, about your point. This is an observer, not a coach or even a player at any meaningful level.

Doesn't the way a team plays depend on the set of individuals that are available to make up the players in that team?

Wouldn't it be better to train individual players to be flexible, to learn to adapt to different tactics and systems, and to do this based on their teammates and what they all bring to the party collectively?

I just feel that forcing them to play a certain system without making big allowances for what they bring as individuals that can be moulded into a team has to be much more important than having them play a certain system because that happens to be the one the first team manager and coaches have hit upon.

Michael, it depends. You make a good point for English football where the style varies as managers come and go.

However, Barca and Ajax for example play a particular style because that is the one adopted by the academy.

Other very notable academies aren't so slavish to an ethos but just work on developing players of exceptional technical ability and tactical understanding – which stands them in good stead for whatever formation / tactical structure etc they are used in.

That approach – like City, Chelsea, PSG (and less famous clubs like Rennes, Lyon, Atalanta and Nordsjaellend etc) is probably best for us.

Michael,

My view has always been to move young players around different positions as they are developing. Because you never really know where they will end up as they mature. Don't fix them too early.

I don't have an issue with implementing a system throughout the club. Yes, there has to be a degree of flexibility, but it can work. There is a very good recent example. I don't need to mention it, but you know who I'm talking about.

I am not a big fan of the academy structure as is, but I don't think ours is completely broken. I'd like to see Armstrong, Dixon and possibly Graham included in the squad this season.

The facilities are there. I feel it is the scouting that needs an overhaul.

When Unsworth was running the academy, he was totally out of synch with the first team, in my opinion. It seemed they weren't talking to each other. Maybe that was a two-way fault.

Scouting isn't the issue Danny. Trust me, everyone knows where the best kids are from U6s to U13s.

There's few secrets in grassroots. The problem Everton have is, if 4 local clubs are chasing that talent, we are 4th choice.

They do bring players from other academies at U14s only, but not to the same extent as Liverpool, Man City and Man Utd. I've heard of clubs paying £100k for a 12-year-old.

Staggering stats. 97% of former Cat 1 academy players now aged 21 to 26 never made an EPL appearance. 70% weren't handed a pro contract at an EPL or EFL club. And only 1 in 10 went on to make more than 20 league appearances in the top four tiers of English football.

Based on that, I'd suggest cherry picking the best academy players from others, and signing players 15, 16, 17 that are making league appearances. Rooney, Milner, Ramsey, Fabregas blueprint.

Ian I think you’re right. I expect most clubs / scouts know will be confident they know which players will or could make it by the time they are about 11 or 12. Some exceptional talents will fail like Ravel Morrison etc and some will achieve more than expected (like Kane and to a lesser degree DCL) but I bet most will follow the expected path.

The England scouts certainly know - and it becomes visible who they are backing from age 15.

I think we can pinch the players below world talents like Foden and Palmer and give them a much better chance of Premier Leagye football without such a long series of loans between age 18 and 22. These can still be Europa Leahue quality, just not Champions Leagye quality (or initially anyway)

Robert (30),

You seem to be saying that Lawrence and Samuels-Smith were sold to save us from PSR and insolvency— I thought both were offered very good terms by Everton but preferred to sign for City and Chelsea.

I do agree though that both of them would have had a better chance of playing regular Premier League football if they had stayed here — in fact I have heard nothing about Lawrence since he left.

Bit of both Dave - but Samuels-Smith sale definitely helped save our bacon. As per Ian’s anecdote # 29

Robert (30)Well the £4.5M deal would relate to Samuels- Smith but I definitely heard or read Everton did offer him a very good deal to stay as they did with Small who signed for Southampton and is now slowly climbing back the ladder with PNE after being out on loan in Scotland then doing okay with Charlton and just recently moved to Preston.

Maybe Ian @(29 can tell us how Lawrence is getting on at City.

Robert Tressell - 28

Cheers for the reply. The game has gone way too far down a path that I don't particularly like anymore to be honest. You will get players from outside the local area who become part of the community - we have had several at Everton, but when your team has 1 local player - from Birkenhead bought via Man Utd, it makes you wonder whether you are supporting a local team in name only.

Don't know Dave, it's not an age group I am near.

I couldn't tell you which player was being described, it was just they thought appropriate to tell younger groups that was their big achievement. It saddened me no end that was success.

I'm with Dave @38.

Not that there are guarantees, but our selling point would be more opportunities for playing football regularly.

I agree, Barry, there's often something very soulless about football.

But top sides and dynasties still often have a core of local ish players. In fact I think that's often what makes them great.

For me, the reason why greats like AC Milan and Man Utd have floundered in the past 15 years-ish is they have have neglected their youth systems which previously provided the heartbeat of their clubs.

I would be delighted if we go very big on player development on North West players, with some Celts mixed in too. Talents and converts like Ndiaye and Gueye most welcome too. But nice to have a traditional soul. Annoyed me when the likes of Hickey, Ferguson and Doig all went to Italy. Nice to see some Scots kids turn up here. Hopefully John Dodds is good. And I wouldn't say no to Evan Ferguson.

Robert #37, funny you should mention Ravel Morrison. I was a bit startled to see him sub on for Jamaica in a World Cup qualifier this week, and there was an interesting interview with him in The Athletic earlier this month.

Obscure, but not gone by any means.

Robert Tressell @ 44,

Yes, it would be nice to start looking locally as you said – adding in the outsiders who become part of the ethos and culture of the club through time!

Kyle Walker linked with us.

Clearly the press read ToffeeWeb...

I understood that at the time, Dave.

Patterson is a conundrum, Colin. We can put a lot of him not playing down to injury, which is a concern.

He is the opposite of Mykolenko.

One is solid defensively, but often is nervous going forward. Although that is improving and he did pull us back into the game from inside the box against Fulham, that we went onto win. The other is better going forward, but suspect defensively.

Dixon is going to be interesting. I won't judge him on the 2nd test event; he had a stinker. If we don't send him out on loan, he won't start, but one attribute he does have, is pace in abundance.

Either way, we need to add a right back. Maybe, if the speculation is to be believed, the manager is opting for experience?? Anyone's guess.

Kyle Walker Peters.

Born in North London, played for Spurs the team he supported, then moved on to Southampton, so not far from his roots.

Does anyone know, if Everton have approached him ?
They may well have done, he may have said, "I do not want to move to the North West, I am a London lad."

He may have also said, "No thanks, I am fed up playing for a team constantly fighting relegation."

And finally, will people on here stop telling other who Everton should sign; no one listens to them, supporters have no say what players come and go, and that's always been the case in British football.

Walker vs Patterson isn't much of a competition in playing ability. Walker would our perform him all day long.

Patterson was bought as an emerging player with the right attributes. It sounded promising, but his 13 Rangers appearances has proved that you need to be buying players on a bit more than stats alone.

He probably joined the wrong club, for the wrong fee. A move to promoted club for half the fee, and another 100 games under his belt would have been a better career move than sitting on our bench. He could be looking up for his next stage, rather than rebuild for the 3 wasted years so far.

Shame.

Dave A,

Everton fans don't like anyone. The vast majority are clueless idiots.

Ryan,

A bit of “How to make friends and influence people” there, Ryan!

Sorry Dale, I mean Dave

Ryan. Why would you say something like that? I don't know how many games you attend. And that's not important.

Believe me, we meet before the match and sit in the stands together. We agree. We disagree. Hug, argue and bicker.

You are better than than that, Ryan. Labelling the vast majority of your own as clueless idiots is just out of order.

Ryan,

I hope you include yourself in that because only a clueless idiot would call other Evertonians clueless idiots.

Personally I find most of the posters on here to be highly intelligent and very knowledgeable about football and players' abilities.

As Danny said, the hope is you are better than that.

Ryan "The vast majority are clueless idiots".

Thanks for excluding me from "the vast majority".

In 2008, my club in San Diego that I coached at won and qualified for the Manchester United Premier Cup World Finals. It used to be the biggest tournament for Under-15 players.

All the training sessions were at Carrington and the Final at Old Trafford, played before the first team played a pre-season game. Great experience and the best player I saw there was Ravel Morrison.

Sir Alex watched all those Under-15 games, my San Diego Surf team did not win a game but a great experience for them playing against top Professional Football clubs. With his obvious talent, Ravel should have done so much better!

Walker-Peters makes the most sense so that means Everton won't do it.

Guess Walker was not on anyone's radar.

But then as fans, what do we know?