Everton’s long hunt for a right-back is over, but it is not perhaps the name everyone expected.
For long periods on deadline day it looked like Fulham’s Kenny Tete would make the move to the Toffees, but with the Cottagers struggling to find a replacement Everton had to look for an altenrative.
That alternative is Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who has joined from Lyon for around £5m on a three-year contract.
The 29-year-old is something of an Everton deadline day staple, he has been linked with Everton in 2021,
2023 and 2025, but finally makes the switch to the Toffees.
As well as playing right-back he can play further forward and in midfield, though it is in defence where he is likely to feature most given the paucity of Everton’s options there.
His arrival ends a long and arduous hunt for a successor to Seamus Coleman.
Tete agreed a deal to join on a free transfer last summer, but changed his mind at the last minute and instead signed a new three-year deal with the Cottagers.
Everton have not come close to signing another right-back since, with Jake O’Brien gamely filling in for another season, Nathan Patterson appearing sporadically and Coleman finally calling time on his Everton career in May.
Merlin Rohl has impressed in the position during the first three games of the season, but he is still a midfielder playing out of position.
The search has at times looked desperate, with Guela Doue supposedly the top target but deemed too expensive. Timothy Castagne, also of Fulham, Crystal Palace’s Daniel Munoz ,Aston Villa’s Matty Cash, Celtic’s Alistair Johnson and Aaron Wan-Bissaka – now of Aston Villa – have also all been mentioned.
Maitland-Niles does finally plug a gap in the squad, but it is perhaps a touch underwhelming given Angus Kinnear indicated last month that most of Everton’s first choice right-back targets were still available.
However, with Nathan Patterson on his way to Torino Everton were left with no senior right-backs at all, so it was vital some sort of deal was done before the deadline.
