Jake O’Brien's Future at Everton: Centre-Back or Right-Back?
Jake O’Brien is edging towards the Goodison Park exit just as Everton’s long-standing Irish thread begins to fray.
The Cork defender, signed as a centre-half and repurposed as a right-back, has grown tired of life on the flank. At 25, with his prime looming, he wants to get back to what he knows best: marshalling the middle of a defence, not patrolling its edges.
A centre-half stranded at right-back
Everton paid £17m (€19.9m) to prise O’Brien from Lyon in the summer of 2024 after a breakout season in Ligue 1. Thirty-two games at centre-back, five goals, and a December player-of-the-month award ahead of Vitinha, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Kylian Mbappé announced him as a serious prospect.
He arrived on Merseyside expecting to anchor a back line. Instead, he found a vacancy at right-back.
In his first season, he eased his way into the side, initially as cover for an ageing and increasingly injury-hit Seamus Coleman. The role stuck. David Moyes, impressed by O’Brien’s height, reading of the game and defensive discipline, kept him there.
Last season underlined the trust. Forty appearances, almost all at right-back, showcased a defender built for duels and aerial battles. At six foot six, O’Brien dominated in the air, attacked set pieces like a centre-forward and showed a surprising turn of pace for his frame.
But the modern full-back is judged as much by what he does in the final third as in his own box. That is where the fit began to look awkward.
O’Brien brought solidity, not swashbuckling overlaps. He shut down his flank rather than stretching the opposition. For a player whose instincts scream “centre-half,” the compromise has started to wear thin.
Benched, blocked, and suddenly in demand
The opening day of the Premier League season sharpened the issue.
Everton beat Crystal Palace with James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite starting in the middle and keeping a clean sheet. O’Brien watched from the bench. The only other defenders among the substitutes were Michael Keane and Nathan Patterson.
Then came another twist. Moyes started versatile new signing Merlin Röhl at right-back. Röhl, likened in style to Leon Goretzka, is not a specialist in the role, but his selection there sent a clear signal to those left out.
Clubs noticed.
With the transfer deadline looming at 11pm on Tuesday, Premier League sides have begun circling. Sunderland, Leeds and former club Crystal Palace are all reported to be interested, along with teams from Italy and France. For a player eager to return to centre-back, the market is suddenly offering exactly that.
The timing, though, is brutal for Everton.
Coleman’s shadow and an Irish line under threat
If O’Brien leaves now, Everton are light at right-back. Coleman, the man he effectively covered for, is no longer there to bail them out.
The Donegal native, who cost under £100,000 from Sligo Rovers and went on to make 434 appearances, is still being talked about as one of the greatest bargains in Premier League history. His influence stretched far beyond the pitch. Replacing the captain was always going to be a monumental task; replacing his presence in the dressing room might be impossible.
Coleman departed Merseyside last year and has been back training with his old GAA club Killybegs while weighing up his next move. Everton offered him a coaching role. He turned it down, seemingly determined to keep playing. His last appearance for Ireland came as recently as June, a reminder that, at 37, he still has something left in his legs.
Some at Everton imagined Coleman mentoring O’Brien into a long-term role on the right. Instead, the younger Irishman appears ready to cut his own path and pursue a move that puts him back in the centre.
If he goes, Everton’s Irish contingent shrinks to one: Mark Travers.
The goalkeeper, second choice behind Jordan Pickford, is the latest name in a proud Irish line at Goodison that includes Kevin Kilbane, Lee Carsley, Kevin Sheedy, James McCarthy and Coleman, all of whom racked up more than 100 appearances for the club. Travers, by contrast, did not feature in the Premier League or FA Cup last season and made just two outings in the Carabao Cup. He is set for another campaign largely spent watching from the bench.
The Irish influence that once helped define Everton’s identity is fading fast.
Everton’s gamble at right-back
This is not a situation that has taken the club by surprise.
Everton CEO Angus Kinnear admitted they had wanted a right-back in last season already. Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, he was blunt about the gap in the squad.
“I’m confident that we’ll bring a right back in,” he said. “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. With a specialist arriving on the right, he might finally have been able to compete exclusively for a centre-back spot. Instead, the combination of a bench role, a new rival at full-back and strong outside interest has brought him to a crossroads.
Stay and fight for minutes in the middle behind Tarkowski and Branthwaite, or leave and lock down the position he believes defines his game?
Everton, already wrestling with the task of moving on from Coleman, now face the prospect of losing the man who has patched up their right side for two seasons. With the window ticking down and squads settling, the next few days could reshape not just their defence, but the club’s connection to a rich Irish legacy.
For Jake O’Brien, it may also decide where – and how – he spends the prime years of his career.
