The answer is probably no, but please bear with me…
Everton’s right-back search has produced plenty of names this summer and not much else.
Zakaria El Ouahdi is tangled in a three-way pursuit involving Roma and Crystal Palace. Alistair Johnston is being watched rather than chased. Rico Lewis remains of genuine interest, with Man City yet to signal any willingness to sell.
Brooke Norton-Cuffy has a formal bid on the table but no breakthrough. Djed Spence remains a name on a list rather than a pending deal. A year on from when the problem first surfaced, it’s still unsolved — and the window is running down.
But… is there a solution in-house that will cost Moyes not a single penny?
That’s what makes the last week worth noting. Merlin Rohl played right-back in the 4-0 win over Dundee, then wing-back against Bolton, dropping into a flat back four for the second half.
Two pre-season games running, same experiment.
It’s not new, either. Rohl covered at right back in a 3-3 draw with Man City in May, filling in then for the injured Nathan Patterson. He also set up a goal, was denied a penalty that looked a stone-waller, and generally looked at home in a position he’d barely played all season.
After the Bolton game, Rohl talked about the switch as if it were nothing unusual. He said facing Tyrique George in training was the toughest examination a right-back could get, and pointed to a career that has already covered both full-back slots, the wing and central midfield.
Adapting, for him, doesn’t seem to be the issue.
The physical and technical case for…
Rohl was never just a holding midfielder. He covers ground, has the range of passing to find a teammate in behind — the ball he played for Thierno Barry against Bolton was disallowed only for offside — and enough defensive know-how from his time in deeper roles to avoid getting caught out of position.
Jake O’Brien has filled the position competently without offering the attacking threat Moyes wants from whoever plays there, ahead of him. Between a converted centre-back and a midfielder who looks like he wants the job, Rohl’s case is stronger.
Why the search goes on
None of this means Everton have called off the recruitment drive. The club are still working on multiple fronts at once — El Ouahdi, Johnston, Lewis and Norton-Cuffy all remain live in some form — and remain confident, by most accounts, of landing a specialist before deadline day.
Rohl’s run of appearances there also owes something to circumstance: James Garner’s injury opened a midfield slot for Harrison Armstrong, which in turn freed Merlin Rohl to move wide.
Whether Moyes is testing him deliberately or simply filling gaps caused by fitness issues isn’t clear, and he hasn’t said.
What is clear is that Everton now have a fallback if none of the four names currently in play come off.
With four weeks to go before Crystal Palace at home and our Everton transfer tracker showing nothing close to being done at right-back, that matters more than it might have done a month ago.
