Jake O’Brien Faces Everton Exit as Right-Back Role Fades

Jake O’Brien’s Everton story looks like it’s heading for an early twist. Two seasons of duty out of position, a bench seat on opening day, and a manager openly hunting a new right-back have pushed the Irish defender toward the door at Goodison Park.

The 25-year-old arrived from Lyon in the summer of 2024 as a centre-half with momentum and pedigree. Everton paid £17m (€19.9m) for a defender who had just bossed Ligue 1 at the heart of Lyon’s back line, racking up 32 appearances, five goals and a player of the month award in December ahead of Vitinha, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Kylian Mbappé.

He came to England to anchor a defence. He ended up patrolling the flank.

A centre-half stuck on the right

O’Brien’s first campaign with the Toffees started slowly but gathered pace as he forced his way into the side. The surprise was where he landed. With Seamus Coleman ageing and often injured, O’Brien was shunted to right-back and told to make it work.

He did. To a point.

Last season, David Moyes leaned on him again in that role. The logic was obvious: at six foot six, O’Brien dominates in the air, reads danger early and defends with a centre-back’s mindset. He made 40 appearances, a picture of reliability and resilience on the right.

But the modern Premier League full-back is judged on more than defensive solidity. O’Brien offered height, aggression and recovery pace, yet lacked the constant attacking thrust that defines the top wide defenders in the division. Corners and free-kicks turned into chaos with him in the box, but from open play Everton rarely had a flying wing-back on that side.

For a natural centre-half in his mid-20s, the compromise has started to grate. He wants to play in his own territory, in the middle, where his profile makes most sense.

A bench, a new rival and a message

The opening weekend underlined the problem. O’Brien watched from the bench as Everton beat Crystal Palace, with new club captain James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite locking down the central positions and keeping a clean sheet.

On the teamsheet, the options behind them were thin: Michael Keane, Nathan Patterson and O’Brien. Yet Moyes still chose to start versatile summer signing Merlin Röhl at right-back. Röhl, often likened in style to Leon Goretzka, is not a specialist full-back, but he got the nod.

That felt like more than a tactical tweak. It looked like a message.

Premier League clubs have taken notice. With the transfer deadline looming at 11pm on Tuesday, Sunderland, Leeds and former club Crystal Palace are all reported to be circling, along with interest from Italy and France. O’Brien suddenly has a decision to make about where he spends the prime years of his career.

For Everton, the timing is awkward. If O’Brien leaves, the club is light again at right-back, with Coleman’s future still unresolved.

Coleman’s shadow and the shrinking Irish core

Coleman left Merseyside last year, but his presence still hangs over the club. He has been back home training with his old GAA side Killybegs while weighing up whether to continue his professional career. Everton offered him a coaching role; he turned it down, intent on playing on after winning his most recent Ireland cap as recently as June at the age of 37.

Replacing his influence is a job in itself. Coleman cost less than £100,000 from Sligo Rovers and went on to make 434 appearances in all competitions. Many inside and outside the club argue he ranks among the greatest value-for-money signings in Premier League history.

Some had imagined a neat succession plan: Coleman mentoring O’Brien, the next Irish defender to take ownership of the right side of Everton’s defence. Instead, O’Brien appears set on a different path, one that leads away from Goodison rather than deeper into it.

If he goes, Everton’s Irish connection shrinks again. Only Mark Travers will remain. The goalkeeper, second choice behind Jordan Pickford, did not feature in the Premier League or FA Cup last season and played just twice in the Carabao Cup. He is set for another year watching on, a stark contrast to the eras of Kevin Kilbane, Lee Carsley, Kevin Sheedy, James McCarthy and Coleman, all of whom passed the 100-appearance mark for the club.

Everton’s gamble at right-back

The club hierarchy has been open about the need to address the position. Everton CEO Angus Kinnear admitted they wanted a right-back in a year ago and failed to land the required quality.

“I’m confident that we’ll bring a right back in,” he told BBC Radio Merseyside. “It’s a position we’ve needed. I think Jake has done a sterling job for us in that position.

“It was something that we were trying to do last summer and didn’t feel that we could get the quality in.

“A right-back was top priority in the window, we would have liked to have got it done earlier.

“I understand the fans’ frustrations; I understand how they see it as being critical.

“So, we are working hard to bring one in and I’m sure we will. I’m sure it will be an improvement, and it will round off the squad nicely.”

Those words briefly offered O’Brien a different kind of hope: if Everton finally signed a specialist right-back, he could focus solely on battling Tarkowski and Branthwaite for a central berth. Instead, with interest mounting from elsewhere, his Everton future hangs by a thread.

If he stays, he fights for a place in a settled central pairing and risks another season out of position. If he goes, Everton lose a dependable defender and scramble for cover in a problem area with the clock ticking.

Either way, the final days of this transfer window promise to reshape not just Everton’s back line, but the club’s long-standing Irish heartbeat.