Inside Everton transfer deadline day as serious right-back contender emerges after Merlin Rohl deal

Inside Everton transfer deadline day as serious right-back contender emerges after Merlin Rohl deal

The capture of Merlin Rohl sealed a ninth addition for David Moyes and paved the way for Harrison Armstrong to depart on loan

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David Moyes secured the ninth signing of a busy summer with a late swoop for Merlin Rohl in the final hours of the transfer window. The message from Everton for weeks had been to expect business to go to the wire as David Moyes sought to transform the playing squad.

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They did just that, with the central midfielder’s arrival announced at 9.10pm after he completed a medical earlier in the day. The 23-year-old joined on a loan deal with an obligation to make the move permanent at the end of the season for a fee of around £18m.

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He has the potential to be a valuable addition for Moyes, who had earmarked central midfield as a position of need before the summer. The departure of Abdoulaye Doucoure, which took place on the club’s terms, left Idrissa Gueye and James Garner as the remaining senior options.

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Garner is prized for his versatility - he started the opening games of the season at left back and is a serious contender for the right back slot when necessary. Gueye, meanwhile, is set to turn 36 this month and due to play at the Africa Cup of Nations across Christmas and the new year - a period in which he could miss six Premier League matches and the third round of the FA Cup should Senegal go deep in the competition.

Both factors were influential in Moyes’ desire to reduce the reliance on Gueye but he was handed a third in the win at Wolves on Saturday . He took off last year’s player and supporters’ star of the season to add “freshness” to his line-up with 15 minutes to go. His departure was a catalyst for a loss of control that almost cost Everton a valuable, morale-boosting win.

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Rohl, who had been tracked by Everton for around a year and became the subject of a pursuit after a deal for West Ham’s Tomas Soucek looked unlikely , can operate across the central midfield positions. While he has played in an attacking role, he is likely to be used in a deeper position by Moyes, who will value the German youth international’s physicality and ability to carry the ball.

The Blues boss said: “We’re really pleased to bring Merlin to Everton. He’s a Germany Under-21 international who will add different qualities to our existing midfield options.

“He’s an exciting prospect who we’ve followed at the club for some time, and we’re all looking forward to working with him as we continue to build a squad and team at Everton.”

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His arrival from Freiburg allowed Moyes to sanction the departure on loan of teen starlet Harrison Armstrong. The 18-year-old was superb in the Carabao Cup win over Mansfield Town last week and the Blues boss spent much of the past week agonising whether to allow him to leave on loan for a good chance of first team minutes or keep him as part of what remains a relatively small squad.

"I think a lot depends if we maybe get a more experienced midfield player in”, Moyes said ahead of the trip to Molineux, adding: “It's very difficult now, is it better he comes [with us] and he sits on the bench and gets little bits of moments, trains with us every day, or is it better that he goes and plays maybe 20 games in the Championship? That's really the decision we feel as if we've got to take. I think he's still young, and probably the biggest one that I can think is very similar is Leon Osman. First of all to Carlisle, then I sent him to Derby, and Ozzy took two loans, then came back and just about went right in the team and had an unbelievable career and went on to become an England international at the end as well.

"So I’ve got that in my head as well, but if we don't get a loan, I would have no problem keeping him because I think he's got potential."

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Rohl marked the addition of that “more experienced midfield player” and allowed the club to sign off a loan move to Preston - though that, too, had to be confirmed after the deadline with Everton requiring completion of their ninth deal of the window first.

Another deal left late was Youssef Chermiti’s departure to Rangers . Talks had started over a loan move but they progressed to a permanent transfer that ended two miserable years dogged by injuries and a lack of minutes for the 21-year-old at Everton. He moved north for a fee that started at £8m, with £2m of add-ons.

Upon confirmation of the move Rangers’ director of football Kevin Thelwell, who signed him while in the same post at Everton, said: “I know his character well from our time at Everton, and I’ve always been impressed by his attitude, professionalism, and hunger to improve.

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“We believe he can develop into a top striker here, and we’re confident that Rangers is the right place for him to take that next step. We’re all excited about what he can bring to the club over the coming years.”

Elsewhere within the squad Tyler Onyango moved to Stockport County and Isaac Heath to Accrington Stanley, both on loan deals . The pair were handed first team minutes through pre-season and Onyango had been an ever-present on Moyes’ bench through the opening games of the campaign. The move to League Two will represent the first senior action for 20-year-old Heath, who was named the player of the season in Everton’s Under-21s last year. Nathan Patterson will remain with the squad, however, after a loan move to Sevilla fell through.

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The end of the window marked the conclusion of a major period of transition for the Blues - one overseen without the new-look leadership team fully in place. Chief executive Angus Kinnear joined just before the end of last season and was soon followed by trading guru Nick Hammond. Scouting and recruitment chief James Smith was only able to take up his post last week . New technical director Nick Cox will follow but the club did confirm the appointment of Martyn Hawkins as chief financial officer on Monday.

Despite that upheaval, Moyes is happy with the business achieved. He was frustrated with what he perceived to be a slow start that left him short through pre-season but business picked up after the return from the tour of the USA.

Everton initially moved quickly, making the loan move of Carlos Alcaraz permanent less than a week after his match-winning performance at Newcastle United in the final game of last season. The club then appeared to get bogged down in wading through the players whose deals were due to expire at the end of June.

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While the departures of Doucoure, Ashley Young, Asmir Begovic and Joao Virginia were announced quickly, talks laboured over other players. Club captain Seamus Coleman had always been expected to sign an extension and did so, as did Gueye and Michael Keane - the centre back agreeing a deal after Everton had lined up a replacement in the event one could not be reached.

One of the chief ambitions of the summer was to convince star man Jarrad Branthwaite to sign a new long-term contract - something that was achieved in July. There was no such agreement with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, however, who confirmed the end of a nine-year stint with the Blues by posting on Instagram : “The choice to move on was not simply about me - it was a decision my family and I spent a long time considering together. We believe it is the right moment to seek a new challenge and continue growing, but that doesn’t lessen the bond I’ll always have with Everton.”

Just over a week later, Everton effectively secured his replacement, signing Thierno Barry in a £27.5m deal that progressed after the beginning of the new football financial year in July. There were then moves for young left back Adam Aznou, back-up goalkeepers Mark Travers and Tom King but it was the business on the eve of the campaign that caught the eye.

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First, the Blues announced the arrival of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in a £25m deal from Chelsea. The 26-year-old, who Moyes had eyed in January, sought regular minutes after winning the Europa Conference League and Club World Cup and, he revealed, helped to convince Jack Grealish to become the highest profile move of the Blues’ summer in a loan deal from Manchester City that will cost Everton around £12m in full. Both have hit the ground running with Grealish picking up four assists already - including one for Dewsbury-Hall’s stunning half-volley at the weekend.

Even amid the fanfare around the arrival of Grealish there remained a sense the squad was unbalanced - particularly down the right, where Everton had no specialist options at right back or right midfield. The club had sought to address the full-back position by signing Kenny Tete - only for the defender to opt to remain at Fulham after being offered better terms to stay at Craven Cottage amid Everton’s interest.

That Jake O’Brien appears to be the first choice right back heading into the coming months will be of some frustration, though the addition of Rohl should allow Garner to play there if necessary while Patterson’s loan deal falling through means both he and Coleman are also available for that role.

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