Tarkowski and Keane have done a job. A good job. A solid job. But with both the wrong side of 30 and Jarrad Branthwaite finally fit, is Everton’s best central defensive pairing for 2026-27 already on the books?
David Moyes has leaned on Tarkowski and Keane as his first-choice centre-back pairing for two seasons now, and it’s easy to see why. Both are rugged, dominant in the air, and rarely let Everton down when fit.
But neither offers a yard of pace, and as Everton look to play higher up the pitch and compete for the kind of football Moyes has spoken about building towards, that’s a potential problem.
The case for O’Brien and Branthwaite
O’Brien signed as a centre-back from Lyon in 2024, but has spent most of his Everton career at right-back — an experiment born of necessity, with Moyes never fully trusting Nathan Patterson, rather than a tactical preference.
The numbers back the case for a change. Across seven appearances at centre-back this season, O’Brien posted a 55% win rate, comfortably ahead of the 26% managed by Everton’s Tarkowski-Keane pairing, according to data shared by Opta’s Aaron Barton. Small sample. But still hard to ignore.
Branthwaite offers what Tarkowski and Keane can’t: genuine recovery pace and the mobility to defend on the front foot.
Injuries have limited him, and speculation over a move to Man United hung over last season, but he remains at Everton — and O’Brien’s long-term future has already been mapped out by the club.
Athletic journalist Patrick Boyland reported earlier this year that Moyes sees O’Brien’s medium-long-term future in the centre of defence. The ingredients for a younger, sharper, more progressive pairing are already there.
Not a straightforward swap
Tarkowski and Keane won’t be written off. Both remain useful against direct, physical sides, and Moyes has shown little appetite to move away from them when fit. There’s also the matter of what O’Brien’s departure does to right-back, a position Everton haven’t convincingly solved.
Seamus Coleman’s exit leaves a gap neither Patterson nor a converted James Garner look equipped (or willing) to fill long-term.
But as a forward-thinking pairing, O’Brien and Branthwaite look the better fit. Younger, quicker, better suited to a higher line — and, on the numbers available, no weaker for it.
Whether Moyes agrees is another matter. He’s stuck with Tarkowski and Keane through thick and thin. But if Everton mean it when they talk about evolving, the personnel for a different centre-back pairing might already be in the building.
All that’s missing is the will to use them.
