Latest Update On 22-Year-Old Right-Back To Everton: Is It A Setback? | OneFootball

Everton’s pursuit of Brooke Norton-Cuffy is essentially over before it properly started, according to a report in The i Paper, relayed by Transfer Feed. The Toffees had been keeping tabs on the 22-year-old right-back throughout the summer window. Now? A move looks dead in the water.

Everton miss out as Brooke Norton-Cuffy deal collapses

Everton continuously monitored Norton-Cuffy across his 2025/26 Serie A campaign with Genoa. He racked up 27 appearances over the course of the year, starting 25 times, and chipped in with two goals and a solitary assist across 2,216 minutes of action. Add three yellow cards and a red to his tally, and you get a clear picture of a tempestuous, learning year in Italy. His FotMob average rating sat at 6.8. Hardly the kind of figure that attracts attention in elite footballing circles.

Context matters here, too. Genoa aren’t a top-half outfit in Serie A. The level of competition he faced daily has to factor into any honest assessment of where he actually sits as a footballer right now.

Everton and the right-back question this summer

Work needs to be done on the recruitment front for the Toffees. Lots of it. David Moyes will demand width, dynamism, and defensive solidity down the flanks. Norton-Cuffy certainly ticks a couple of boxes as a progressive, attack-minded full-back, but those Serie A numbers weren’t exactly screaming superstar. Two goals and an assist in 27 games, plus a sending off along the way, points to a lad still trying to find his feet at the top level rather than a defender ready to dominate a Premier League flank.

T4O take: A setback, but hardly a crisis for the Toffees

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 27: Brooke Norton-Cuffy of Coventry City looks on as he warms up prior to the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final between Coventry City and Luton Town at Wembley Stadium on May 27, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Look, missing out on Norton-Cuffy isn’t the total disaster some fans will make it out to be. The honest take? He’s a decent player. Technically solid, athletic, more than capable of getting forward when the space opens up. But he hasn’t proven he can perform at the level Everton need if they genuinely want to push up the Premier League table.

His market value sits around the €15 million mark. Genoa, ever the tough negotiators, would have squeezed every last penny out of that valuation. Financially speaking, Everton dodging that outlay might actually be a blessing in disguise.

The real question is where the recruitment team turns next. Better right-back options exist across Europe at that exact price point. Players with consistent top-flight minutes under their belt, far stronger defensive metrics, and genuine Premier League readiness. A former Championship graduate who spent a season-and-a-bit battling in the bottom half of Serie A simply doesn’t fit the profile of a transformative signing.

Everton ought to target someone already tested in a major league instead of treating this collapsed deal like a proper crisis. Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga are packed with alternatives. It just isn’t the blow people are making it out to be.