Everton Linked To 12 G/A Moroccan Full-Back: Good Move For The Toffees? | OneFootball

Everton are looking at Genk right-back Zakaria El Ouahdi ahead of a potential summer move. That is the word coming from Africa Foot, relayed by Transfer Feed, the French-language outlet known for keeping tabs on North African and Belgian football. They reckon the 24-year-old comes with an asking price of around €15m, which translates to roughly £12.76m.

Everton eye Belgium’s standout full-back Zakaria El Ouahdi

It is a weird one, though. The whole situation gets messy when you look at who actually owns these clubs. Everton and AS Roma both sit under the Friedkin Group umbrella now. Roma are reportedly sniffing around the player, too. Throw Crystal Palace and PSV Eindhoven into contention, and it is clear the Toffees cannot afford to sit on their hands if they want to get this over the line before a bidding war starts.

El Ouahdi just had a brilliant 2025/26 season in the Belgian top flight. He managed eight goals and four assists across 34 league games, clocking up 2,991 minutes on the pitch. For a full-back, those numbers are ridiculous. Yes, the Jupiler Pro League is a notch below the elite European leagues, but you cannot scoff at that output.

He finished the campaign with a 7.35 average rating on FotMob. That points to consistency rather than just a few flash-in-the-pan performances. He took 36 shots in the league, hitting the target with 41.67% of them. He actually holds dual Belgian-Moroccan nationality. He has broken into the senior Morocco set-up recently as well, picking up two caps along the way.

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UTRECHT, NETHERLANDS – JANUARY 22: Zakaria El Ouahdi of KRC Genk clashes with Miguel Rodriguez of FC Utrecht during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD7 match between FC Utrecht and KRC Genk at Stadion Galgenwaard on January 22, 2026 in Utrecht, Netherlands. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

Let us be fair here. El Ouahdi can play. Scoring eight times from right-back tells its own story. He loves carrying the ball, drives forward at every opportunity, and essentially operates as an extra winger for Genk. His rise through the ranks shows real character. He started at Rupel Boom, moved to RWD Molenbeek, where he won player of the season and made the league’s team of the year, and then earned his move to Genk in 2023. He has improved at every single stop.

But the player is not the issue. The real problem is Everton‘s current reality.

David Moyes spent large chunks of last season playing Jake O’Brien out wide on the right. O’Brien is a centre-back. Everyone knows it. The recruitment team simply failed to fix the position last summer, and it looked embarrassing. Seamus Coleman has moved on. Nathan Patterson cannot seem to keep hold of the starting spot or stay fit. This is an open wound in the squad.

While £12.76m looks reasonable on a spreadsheet, Everton have other options on the table. The recruitment team has looked at Rico Lewis, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Raoul Bellanova, Brooke Norton-Cuffy, and Djed Spence. Nearly every name on that list offers something El Ouahdi lacks. Experience in the Premier League. Or at least proven defensive resilience against elite wingers.

Belgium is a different world compared to England. Flying forward and scoring goals works fine over there, but Premier League full-backs rarely get that much space. Moyes demands defensive discipline above everything else, and El Ouahdi’s tracking back has not been tested properly yet. You also have to wonder how he would cope with the physical pounding of a cold-weather away game in January.

If the board do sanction this move, they need to do it with open eyes. The price tag is fair, but the step up in intensity is massive, and the Friedkin link to Roma makes the whole thing look messy. Brooke Norton-Cuffy looks like a smarter value deal right now, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka provides the immediate defensive stability this backline desperately lacks. El Ouahdi has a high ceiling, but this looks like a transfer designed to look good on social media while leaving Moyes short of what he actually needs when the season kicks off.