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Everton close in on Johnston as Celtic brace for offer

Everton close in on Johnston as Celtic brace for offer

Everton are preparing to make a formal move for Celtic right-back Alistair Johnston, who is understood to be open to a switch to Merseyside should a deal be reached.

According to The Bobble, the 27-year-old would welcome the move if Everton and Celtic can agree terms.

That lines up with a separate report from the Daily Record, via Yahoo Sports, which says Celtic are braced to receive an offer in excess of £10m, with David Moyes viewing the Canada international as his long-term successor to Seamus Coleman at right-back.

Everton are said to be at the front of the queue for Johnston, though Fulham and Ipswich Town (as always) also retain an interest.

No official bid had been submitted at the time of writing.

Johnston’s stock rose considerably after a strong World Cup with Canada, though his 2025/26 season at Celtic was disrupted by a hamstring problem that limited him to just 11 appearances.

Across the two seasons before that, he contributed 11 goals and 19 assists from right-back, underlining the attacking threat Moyes is said to value.

Right-back has been an area of concern for Everton all summer, with Nathan Patterson yet to convince as Coleman’s long-term successor and Merlin Rohl having been used there out of position in pre-season.

Everton’s business this window can be followed on our Everton summer transfer tracker, updated as deals develop.

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Gary is an experienced football journalist who has written for, among many others, BBC Sport and The Metro, and is now the editor of ReadEverton.com. He leads daily coverage of Everton news, transfers and analysis as part of the dave.sport network. He also writes for ReadManCity.com, ReadMotorsport and ReadNorwich within the same network. When not writing, he enjoys a nice cold pint of Guinness and trips to the cinema ... not always at the same time.

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