Picking Everton’s finest foreign stars of the Premier League era is bound to spark debate. I’ve attempted to build a balanced starting eleven, players who not only excelled during their time with the Toffees but also complement one another in my system.
For this exercise, anyone from outside the British Isles counts as foreign (sorry, Seamus). I’ve set the XI players up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, designed to showcase both skill and cohesion.
Why not tell me your Ultimate Foreign Everton XI and what system you would put them in?
This isn’t about longevity or loyalty alone. Some fan favourites won’t make the cut. I certainly struggled at right-back and probably should have had someone more defensively minded in the heart of the midfield, but here you go!
Goalkeeper: Tim Howard
Between the posts, Tim Howard is a fortress of calm, a pair of hands that can snatch the impossible from the air. With reflexes like lightning and instincts honed to perfection, he commands his penalty area with authority, turning moments of panic into poetry.
Right-back: John Heitinga
Versatile and resolute, John Heitinga embodies intelligence and determination. While not the flashiest going forward, his presence at right-back steadies the line, freeing Andrei Kanchelskis to dance and delight in the final third. A Dutch wall in defence, Heitinga’s experience and discipline anchor the team with quiet authority.
Centre-back: Joseph Yobo
Joseph Yobo, versatile yet definitive at centre-back, marries pace with power, tackling with authority and marking with precision. His stamina never wanes, his leadership inspires, and his presence reassures both club and country. A guardian whose calm and confidence set the tone at the heart of defence.
Centre-back: Sylvain Distin
At 6’-4”, Sylvain Distin is a colossus with surprising pace, a blend of strength and elegance that navigates the chaos of the Premier League. Left-footed and astute, he balances the backline, dominating aerial duels and reading danger before it arrives. In him, Everton found both a shield and a strategist.
Left-back: Lucas Digne
Down the left flank glides Lucas Digne, a magician with a left foot that weaves crosses like threads of silk. His endless energy fuels both attack and defence, a tireless sentinel who tackles with precision and reads the game with a scholar’s eye. He gives Richarlison the freedom to cut inside, while he shapes the play from the wide avenues of the pitch.
Midfield: Idrissa Gana Gueye
The relentless pulse of Everton, Idrissa Gana Gueye runs as if the field itself bends to his will. Pressing, harrying, reclaiming, the Senegalese dynamo disrupts opponents like a force of nature, retrieving the ball with uncanny timing and turning defence into attack. He is the heartbeat, untiring and unyielding. Gana would have to be put on somewhat of a leash, playing a slightly deeper role in this side, providing a protective wall for the defence, doing his best work from inside his own half and rarely venturing forward.
Midfield: Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta orchestrates the midfield with the finesse of a maestro. Every pass, every movement, every touch is deliberate, drawing teammates into rhythm and dictating the tempo. Calm under pressure and lethal from set-pieces, he links defense and attack, building the game from deep while always threatening the edge of the box.
Midfield: James Rodríguez
James Rodríguez, the epitome of elegance and vision, turns the pitch into his canvas. A true playmaker, he conjures chances from nothing, strikes with precision from distance, and bends set-pieces like poetry in motion. Each pass and goal drips with class, making him perhaps the finest artist to wear the Everton shirt in the Premier League era.
Right-wing: Andrei Kanchelskis
Speed incarnate, Andrei Kanchelskis is a whirlwind of unpredictability down the right. He can slice through defences with a searing cross or unleash a venomous shot from anywhere. Electric, daring, and uncontainable, he keeps defenders guessing while illuminating the flank with his audacious creativity.
Left-wing: Richarlison
Richarlison, ever the dynamo on the left wing, blends flair with fearlessness. An acrobatic finisher and tireless worker, he tracks back to guard Digne’s runs and bursts forward to torment defences. Every goal, every tackle, every sprint speaks of a player who bleeds Everton blue and embraces every battle on the pitch.
Forward: Romelu Lukaku
Pace, power, precision, Romelu Lukaku is Everton’s unstoppable force at the spearhead. A titan in the air and a juggernaut on the ground, he holds up play, drags defenders out of position, and unleashes thunderous strikes. Whether holding up the ball to bring the likes of Richarlison, Kanchelskis, or James into play, or racing behind the opposition’s defence, the Belgian’s presence alone reshapes the game and provides a constant source of goals.
Reader Comments (35)
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2 Posted 20/08/2025 at 15:15:08
"Idrissa Gana Gueye runs as if the field itself bends to his will."
Digne "a magician with a left foot that weaves crosses like threads of silk."
Really? I thought he was just the guy who took most of our corners and did some crosses. He was better than other options but hardly Pirlo.
Arteta "lethal from set-pieces." Is that a joke? I recall him wasting most of our corners with aimless balls usually caught by the goalie.
All of this written by yet another "writer" like Samuel Johnson, Angus Kearney, Harry Diamond etc who has never appeared on here before but just pops up with some kind of poetic epic talking about Everton from a distance Koeman style.
3 Posted 20/08/2025 at 15:20:15
Howard, Heitinga, Yobo, Distin, Digne, Arteta, Kanchelskis, Richarlison, Gueye, Lukaku and one difference: Cahill — though it said there was a case for including Rodriguez based on greatness of his career versus Cahill, lol.
4 Posted 20/08/2025 at 15:44:59
The best was when he detailed how a striker had ''caressed the leather spheroid into the reticule".
5 Posted 20/08/2025 at 15:58:08
6 Posted 20/08/2025 at 16:14:18
7 Posted 20/08/2025 at 16:26:32
"Why not tell me your Ultimate Foreign Everton XI and what system you would put them in?"
Fuck off.
8 Posted 20/08/2025 at 16:30:50
9 Posted 20/08/2025 at 17:26:36
Personally, I couldn't care less where they were born, it's how they've performed in the Royal Blue that matters.
10 Posted 20/08/2025 at 17:30:43
Coleman ain't from the British Isles.
11 Posted 20/08/2025 at 17:42:40
Moyes has his strategy and will not change it so we cannot expect much from this season — not that many of us did anyway.
The midfield is still woefully short of tenacity, tackling ability and speed at closing down. This will always prevent Everton from being a team that scores goals.
12 Posted 21/08/2025 at 04:49:55
The geographical, not political, term British Isles includes the 4 nations of the UK, including Ireland and the Isle of Man.
I thought Heitinga was a decent player. He had a really good season when he was our player of the season, but then just seemed to loose interest, albeit appearances were hampered by Moyes opting for Jagielka and Distin as his preferred centre backs.
He could play centre midfield, but I thought he was better as a centre back. He also provided a commanding presence.
13 Posted 21/08/2025 at 08:03:29
It would have been ok to just put your list in the piece. Then others might produce theirs for discussion.
14 Posted 21/08/2025 at 08:21:01
15 Posted 21/08/2025 at 08:34:48
16 Posted 21/08/2025 at 08:43:40
Just because cartographers can’t be arse to update themselves, doesn’t mean it’s accepted fact.
17 Posted 21/08/2025 at 11:18:46
The map is quite clearly drawn, although the border is hardly noticeable in many parts.
My Grandfather, born before partition, was effectively Irish, although he always referred to himself as Northern Irish. I could still qualify for an Irish passport if I wanted, but I've never bothered or seen the need.
Editorial Team
18 Posted 21/08/2025 at 11:28:53
You may not like the style of the article, but you can be assured that James is a real writer. As are all of the other posters.
Each of these writers will read the comments on their pieces, so please do your best to remember that.
The above are all new contributors to the site, as part of a plan to try and increase the number of voices on TW. Every writer posted on this site for the first time at some stage.
Once the new site is ready to launch, each writer will have bios and work history that you can explore if you wish.
I (quite quickly) have realised the readership of ToffeeWeb are cautious about change and new faces.
Thanks,
Harry.
19 Posted 21/08/2025 at 11:39:59
Anyway, I'll explain with a blackboard and chalk over a pint sometime. In the meantime, I just want Dibling to be signed in time to start on Saturday. Which I know won't happen.
20 Posted 21/08/2025 at 12:07:33
21 Posted 21/08/2025 at 14:12:05
Never mind that the above applied to every one of them on Monday.
22 Posted 21/08/2025 at 14:16:38
His crossing was generally poor anyway.
23 Posted 21/08/2025 at 16:09:27
If, as the author, you think that something generated by AI is A) not obvious to most people and B) better than something you could do yourself then it's probably a sign that your calling lies outside of writing web articles.
24 Posted 22/08/2025 at 04:17:52
Baardsen
Ray Atteveld, Per Krøldrup, Li Weifeng, Nuno Valente*
Alex Nyarko, Claus Thomsen, Jean-Philippe Gbamim, Shandy Van der Meyde
Cenk Tosun, Oumar Niasse
* Gave ToffeeWeb readers a new word for describing a player - "Pantywaist".
Honourable mentions to Stefan Rehn, Denis Straq, Muhamed Besic, and plenty of others. Even if you included them and fielded 15 or 16 players, they'd struggle.
25 Posted 22/08/2025 at 06:13:31
Also, bit hard on Li Weifeng - he was only here to sell mobile phones.
26 Posted 22/08/2025 at 06:37:22
I must confess I'd forgotten about Pistone, and putting Valente in there was purely to mention "pantywaist" from a contributor's match report – which had a number of TW'ebbers reaching for dictionaries.
If I recall, Li Wiefeng only played one game - away at Southampton, where we lost. (I was there!)
27 Posted 22/08/2025 at 07:12:23
Our first ever Brazilian. He came, we never saw him and he left.
28 Posted 22/08/2025 at 07:35:40
Bob the Pole as our super sub to replace Kanchelskis.
29 Posted 22/08/2025 at 15:41:18
Name one from each country (not all). Something for Monday?
France 9
Nigeria 6
Denmark 5
Portugal 5
Belgium 4
Brasil 4
Netherlands 4
Spain 4
Sweden 4
Cote d'Ivoire 3
Croatia 3
Italy 3
Senegal 3
USA 3
Argentina 2
Bosnia-Herzogovina 2
Colombia 2
DR Congo 2
Germany 2
Norway 2
Russia 2
Australia 1
Cameroon 1
Canada 1
Chinese 1
Costa Rica 1
Curacao 1
Ghana 1
Greece 1
Guinea-Bissau 1
Iceland 1
Israel 1
Jamaica 1
Mali 1
Paraguay 1
Poland 1
Slovakia 1
South Africa 1
Switzerland 1
Turkey 1
Ukraine 1
Venezuela 1
30 Posted 22/08/2025 at 17:30:15
It's sad we could all probably pick a reserve XI as well.
31 Posted 23/08/2025 at 09:29:39
32 Posted 23/08/2025 at 11:12:36
33 Posted 23/08/2025 at 11:17:25
Nyarko and the fella getting on the pitch at Highbury always gets me. And that Per Krøldrup from Fiorentina. Centre-back that couldn't head it! Just how?
34 Posted 28/08/2025 at 01:32:31
35 Posted 28/08/2025 at 02:47:47
They are just saying they think he has used AI to create / finesse his article, which many of us can only think of as ‘cheating’ if you are intent on making a living as a ‘wordsmith’.
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1 Posted 20/08/2025 at 14:42:14