A new rumor has Everton linked with soon-to-be free agent left back Kieran Trippier, who'll leave Newcastle United at the end of the season.
This is all according to Harry Watkinson at TEAMTalk, who also notes that Wolves are interested in signing the player on a free this summer. That, of course, would require Trippier to be comfortable with a move down to the Championship.
Trippier has been at Newcastle for the last five seasons, and was with Atletico Madrid, Tottenham, Burnley, and Barnsley before that. While he struggled to get going upon his arrival at Newcastle, he was a regular starter for the next two seasons.
But a series of injuries has limited him to just around 3000 minutes over the last two seasons, a number he eclipsed in 2022/23 alone.
The defender has also been a usual suspect for the England national squad, although he last featured as part of the 2024 Euro team that advanced to the final of that tournament, before losing 2-1 to Spain.
The link to Everton is not a total surprise, given how pressing the need is for the Toffees to bring in fullbacks. Seamus Coleman is retiring and hasn't really been part of the squad for several seasons now, while Vitalii Mykolenko remains a decent but unspectacular choice on the opposite flank.
Everton did bring in Adam Aznou to step in behind Mykolenko, but David Moyes never seemed to trust the teenager, who saw zero minutes in the Premier League in his debut season with the club.
Jake O'Brien has filled in admirably at right back, but he's not a fullback, while Nathan Patterson is also likely to be sold this summer if the club can find a suitor.
The problem is not that Everton are seeking out help at fullback, it's that Trippier, who'll turn 36 in September, is nothing more than another stop-gap.
Signing Aznou was exciting last summer because it felt very un-Everton-like. He was a young player on the rise who, with proper development, could become a modern left-back with something to offer going forward.
But outside of a few minutes in a cup match, he never saw the pitch and who knows if he ever will in an Everton shirt so long as Moyes is around.
The thinking behind bringing in Trippier, who is no longer the player he once was, is backward thinking from the club.
Sure, he has Moyes' favored "Premier League experience," but he can't be counted on as a weekly starter anymore, and he'll do nothing but block the club from finding a real long-term option at the position.
The rumors will keep coming, but Everton have to do better if they want to climb the table next season.
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