Jake O’Brien's Future at Everton: A Centre-Back's Struggle

Jake O’Brien looks set to push through the exit at Everton, and with him goes another piece of the club’s long-standing Irish spine.

For two seasons he has done a job on the right of defence. A good job. But not his job. The Cork defender wants his career – and his body – back in the middle.

Signed from Lyon for £17m in the summer of 2024, O’Brien arrived as a centre-half on the up. Thirty-two games, five goals, and a December Player of the Month award in Ligue 1, edging out Vitinha, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Kylian Mbappé. Everton thought they were buying a modern, dominant central defender.

Instead, he found his path into the side at right-back.

In year one, he eased his way into Sean Dyche’s plans, then became the man asked to cover for an ageing and often injured Seamus Coleman. Last season, David Moyes leaned on him again in that role, valuing his height, aggression and defensive security on the flank.

The numbers underline the trust. Forty appearances in all competitions, a constant presence in a team that often had to grind its way through games. At six foot six, he bullied wingers in the air, attacked set pieces like a centre-forward and covered ground with an unexpectedly sharp turn of pace. Old-school defender’s instincts, modern physical profile.

But the more he played wide, the clearer the tension became. Those qualities scream centre-back. What he does not bring is the high-octane attacking output that defines elite full-backs in the Premier League. No overlapping surges, no constant underlaps, no winger’s delivery. For a 25-year-old entering his prime, the compromise has started to grate.

The opening day of the new Premier League season sharpened the issue. O’Brien sat on the bench for the win over Crystal Palace, watching James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite lock down the central roles and deliver a clean sheet. In reserve, alongside him, only Michael Keane and Nathan Patterson offered defensive cover.

Then came another jolt. Moyes handed a start at right-back to new signing Merlin Röhl, a versatile midfielder compared in style to Leon Goretzka. A central player, trusted out wide, ahead of a natural defender who has already done that job for two years. If that wasn’t a message, it certainly felt like a marker.

Clubs have noticed the situation. With the transfer deadline looming at 11pm on Tuesday, Sunderland, Leeds and former side Crystal Palace are all reported to be circling, joined by interest from Italy and France. O’Brien has options, and time is running out for Everton to make their stance count.

Any late move would leave the right side of Everton’s defence exposed. Coleman, the man who held that position for over a decade, is still weighing up his next step after leaving Merseyside last year. He has been back training with his old GAA club Killybegs and remains active enough that his last Republic of Ireland cap came in June, at 37. Everton offered him a coaching role; he turned it down, keeping the door open to more playing time elsewhere.

Replacing Coleman the player is one task. Replacing Coleman the captain, the standard-setter, is another entirely. Many around the club argue he is one of the great value signings in Premier League history: under £100,000 from Sligo Rovers, 434 appearances, and a career that reshaped Everton’s identity as much as its right flank. For that fee, it was daylight robbery.

Some hoped O’Brien might be the next Irishman to grow into that role, learning the nuances of the position and the club from Coleman himself. Instead, this feels like a clear, personal line in the sand from the Cork defender: he wants to be judged as a centre-half, not as a stop-gap full-back.

If he goes, the Irish thread at Everton thins dramatically. Only Mark Travers would remain, the second-choice goalkeeper who did not play a single Premier League or FA Cup minute last season, featuring just twice in the Carabao Cup behind Jordan Pickford. Travers will keep the Irish flag flying, but in name more than on the pitch.

All of this unfolds against a backdrop of urgency in the boardroom. Everton CEO Angus Kinnear has already admitted the club should have addressed right-back earlier.

“I’m confident that we’ll bring a right back in,” he told BBC Radio Merseyside. “It’s a position we’ve needed. I think Jake has done a sterling job for us in that position.

“It was something that we were trying to do last summer and didn’t feel that we could get the quality in.

“A right-back was top priority in the window, we would have liked to have got it done earlier.

“I understand the fans’ frustrations; I understand how they see it as being critical.

“So, we are working hard to bring one in and I’m sure we will. I’m sure it will be an improvement, and it will round off the squad nicely.”

Those words could have opened a door for O’Brien: a chance to step away from the touchline and compete head-on with Tarkowski and Branthwaite at centre-back once a specialist right-back arrived.

Instead, they may have crystallised his thinking. If Everton are determined to buy in that position and he still cannot dislodge the central pairing, this is the moment to move and anchor himself at the heart of another defence.

Everton now stare at a delicate few days. They must try to replace the influence of a departed captain, protect their defensive depth, and decide whether to cash in or fight to keep a player who no longer wants to be a full-back. O’Brien, meanwhile, stands at the edge of his prime, choosing where – and in which position – the real story of his career will be written.