Do Johnston links suggest Everton's right-back delay has cost them?

(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

It’s hard not to just be repetitive when discussing Everton’s right-back situation.

But, finally, there seems to be a serious concrete possibility of the club finally getting a player in to fill the position.

Alistair Johnston might not be the player anybody thought of going into the summer as an ideal choice, but Everton are perhaps not in a position to fill the right-back role with their ideal choice.

There have been links to Desire Doue, Djed Spence and Rico Lewis, all of whom would be expected to cost north of £30M.

Celtic are reportedly keen to keep Johnston, who was impressive for Canada at the World Cup, but he would certainly not be expected to cost close to £30M.

And nor should he.

Johnston is a decent player, and some of the reaction to the news online from Evertonians has, in my opinion, been way overblown.

There are, though, definitely some red flags.

At 27, and turning 28 in October, Johnston has played for Vaughan Azzurri, Nashville SC, CF Montreal and, since 2023, Celtic.

He has, of course, won titles in Glasgow, and was part of the team that surged back to pip Hearts to the Scottish Premiership crown last season.

As mentioned, he was also bright for co-hosts Canada at the World Cup, providing an attacking outlet down the right flank; a full-back keen to get beyond the winger ahead of him, provide width and supply crosses into the box.

Since Johnston signed for Celtic in January 2023, he has created 156 chances in all competitions, which is a tally bettered only by Matt O’Riley, who left the Scottish giants for Brighton in 2024.

In fact, when expanded out to all defenders to play for a Scottish Premiership team in the same timespan, only James Tavernier (398) has created more opportunities than Johnston.

Tavernier is also the only defender to better Johnston’s tally of 30 goal involvements in the same time — the Canadian has scored 7 goals and laid on 23 assists for Celtic.

So despite the negativity, there is plenty to like from an attacking perspective, but back to those concerns.

Johnston is not a youngster, yet has not yet operated at a club playing in a particularly strong league.

Defensively, his positioning can be suspect, and he is not the most physically imposing player. Would he get bullied by opposition attackers?

There is also the fact that he spent the majority of last season out due to a significant hamstring injury. He only returned in time for the end of the campaign, when he played a big part in Celtic’s run-in, before featuring in all five of Canada’s World Cup matches. But with his pace and energy such a big part of his game, then relatively fresh hamstring issues are a cause for concern.

I’m willing to see how this potential move pans out, but if Everton can strike a deal in the region of £15M, then it may open the door for another full-back to also come in later in the window; perhaps one who can help cover both flanks and provide a bit more quality.

It would at least alleviate the pressure in a key position, and if a move were to progress within the coming days, then Johnston would have the best part of 3 weeks to bed in before Everton’s Premier League season starts.

Everton’s dallying and delays and mishaps on the right-back position, stretching back years and years, have led them to this point. They simply cannot afford to hold out and wait on key targets if those key targets either don’t yet want to push the boat out to come to the club, or if the selling teams are in no mood to shift on their valuations.

That is what may change later in the window, as teams and players get a bit more desperate, but Everton need to ensure they are in a strong negotiating position if that happens, and they need to have this slot filled.

Johnston is by no means my first choice, and I would hazard a guess that he isn’t Everton’s, either. But it does appear that it’s a deal that is doable, with the player keen to join, and at a price that will not significantly hamper Everton’s efforts to strengthen elsewhere in the squad.

But, for the above to apply, Everton do need to move quickly. Be decisive and get this deal done, and then head into the final month of the window knowing the position is at least occupied, and then perhaps be opportunistic down the line if the chance arises.

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Jay Harris 2 Posted 31/07/2026 at 16:34:09

Patric,

While I appreciate the sentiment of get someone in now as squad cover, a point I made recently about Wan-Bissaka, I think Johnston may be another Patterson with injuries and only Scottish league experience to show.

He is likely to cost £15-20M so I think we could and should do a lot better.

If we are targeting a European spot and not a relegation battle, we must get acquisitions right and be looking at players of top quality rather than a quick fix.

John Williams 4 Posted 31/07/2026 at 16:36:58

How can they consider paying a fee? The guy has hardly kicked a ball last season.

He is not that young either, we all know Scottish football is not the creme de la creme.

Christy Ring 5 Posted 31/07/2026 at 17:00:18

In my opinion, totally ridiculous targeting Johnston, he has a history of hamstring problems.

Wan-Bissaka is a lot better full-back: Does Moyes even check their injury records?

Sean Mitchell 6 Posted 31/07/2026 at 17:33:40

What happened to Wan-Bissaka? The lad at Genoa? Until it happens, it's all bullshit.

Dour Davie wants Rohl there. It's too obvious.

Mihir Ambardekar 7 Posted 31/07/2026 at 17:36:56

Right-back spot puzzles me. How are we not going for other options?

Brooke Norton-Cuffy seems like a decent buy. We should be signing players like him easily.

I understand Wan-Bissaka and Spence may be out of reach. Why Johnston?

Mike Gaynes 8 Posted 31/07/2026 at 19:07:01

John #4, nope, it isn't. But the World Cup is. And this lad played every minute there.

Mihir #7, how do you know we're not pursuing other options? By my count, Johnston is one ofseven right-backs we've been credibly connected to in the media.

And we haven't lost out on any of them yet. Not one has signed with another club.

It's easy to say just sign one, but the player and his current club must also agree, and they have every right to wait until the end of the window for the best deal they can get.

Paul Kossoff 9 Posted 31/07/2026 at 19:29:35

Everton are keen on Alistair Johnston, manager Martin O'Neill has confirmed. O'Neill received a call from Everton counterpart David Moyes relating to Canada full-back Johnston, 27.

"Everton have been in contact," explained O'Neill. "I'm not sure whether there's been a bid in there for that one, but they've been in contact saying that there would be. [BBC]

"In fairness, David Moyes did call me last week to say there would be contact."

John Collins 10 Posted 31/07/2026 at 19:32:55

If he signs, he's back up to O'Brien.

Darren Hind 11 Posted 31/07/2026 at 19:52:55

Moyes always had his ear to the ground in the past. He would always know if a potential signing was solid. He would always know if any of his players were getting up to no good.

Now he seems out of touch with everything. Perhaps he should bring Phil Neville back as his midnight mass.

Brian Harrison 12 Posted 31/07/2026 at 19:53:52

Did anybody else find it strange Moyes rang O'Neil to tell him to expect contact from Everton about Johnston? Why didn't he just leave it to Kinnear to speak to Celtic's Chairman to ask for permission to speak to Johnston, or doesn't anybody go through the proper channels any more?

I see it's being reported that Chelsea have told those interested in signing Delap they are looking for £40M for a player who played in 28 matches last season, scored 1 goal and had no assists... seems a tad expensive to me.

Leipzig are reportedly interested in Dibling, mind they made good money after signing Lookman so maybe they think they can work the oracle with Dibling.

Meanwhile, we have 2 games coming up in Germany. Team selection will be interesting, hopefully we might see O'Brien and Branthwaite in tandem, but more likely Tarkowski will be paired with Branthwaite.

It will be a toss-up who starts between Barry and Beto but, whoever starts, the other will come on at sometime. Anybody know why Ndiaye hasn't joined the squad? It's weeks since his World Cup exploits finished.

Ian Bennett 13 Posted 31/07/2026 at 20:04:37

Brian, it could be that Celtic are expecting him to go, and that Moyes is talking about his character and fitness record.

No point going through a bid if the lad is going to fail a medical. That's no use to Celtic or the buyer.

Send them Dwight McNeil, and call it quits. I am sure McNeil would be a hit for them.

Christy Ring 14 Posted 31/07/2026 at 20:08:46

Darren #11 Maybe bring Seamus back 😂 just joking!

Malcolm Kitchen 15 Posted 31/07/2026 at 23:25:55

Hi all, Brian 12, your right mate, Moyes used to be good signing players 2002-2012, but that was 14 years ago, he's rubbish now!

The right-back at Celtic is decent -- not top Premier League -- but his stats were amongst the best at the World Cup, so I read. We do need to sell at the moment, that's evident. I hope we can get Ueda or Parrott in and a defensive midfielder -- we're stuffed without Gana!

Stuttgart won 8-1 a few days ago vs a lower league German side and won 5-1 last Saturday. I do fear for both games in Germany! I was going to go, but I wanted 2 more signings before last Friday... it didn't happen, so I didn't book... fuck 'em!

I saved the best part of £500!!! Shame as the Porsche museum is near Stuttgart. 🫢😉

Sean Kearns 16 Posted 31/07/2026 at 00:06:25

It suggests our owners are cheap skates.

Si Cooper 17 Posted 31/07/2026 at 00:56:41

For £10-15M he doesn't have to be top-notch or a spring-chicken, just better than our current options. I'd agree that we could potentially buy this guy and still buy another decent option in the tail-end of the transfer window as well need to fill out the squad a bit more in any case. Depends on outgoings as well.

His fitness is probably the big concern, but if I've read it right, he's only had one particularly tricky hamstring issue that he probably made into a bigger issue by trying to come back too quickly (which someone who wasn't used to being properly injured might be prone to do).

If he's been okay for 2-3 months now, it could be that particular problem is fully resolved. Hopefully in a few weeks we will all be lighting cigars and quoting Colonel John ‘Hannibal' Smith.

Our ace recruitment team has been in place since the middle of last September.

They have this state-of-the-art analytics capability. They have had almost 11 months to scout, research, input material, press buttons, hug AI, and track players.

And this is what we end up with: a decent right-back it would seem who played 5 games for France? Portugal? Morocco? Columbia? Senegal...? Sorry,Canada in the World Cup.

Crack recruitment of the highest order. Cox is definitely earning his nice 2 September bonus.

John Williams 19 Posted 01/08/2026 at 09:17:04

To be honest, how many managers in football go out and purchase players these days, its the director of football or some other guy. Did Pep want Elliott Anderson, I very much doubt it, he was leaving, at that time they had nt a replacement. It was the guys higher up who decided and they expect the new manager to get a tune out of the new players.

Tony Abrahams 20 Posted 01/08/2026 at 09:31:05

Some managers are control freaks, and I’d put both Guardiola and Moyes, in the same bracket when it comes to wanting complete control.

Different people, different styles, but you don’t get to be as successful as Guardiola, or have the longevity of David Moyes, if you are prepared to let others do one of the most important sides of your job for you, imo

Alan McGuffog 21 Posted 01/08/2026 at 13:52:49

Fulham in for him, supposedly.

That's it then, we can't compete with giants like them.

Eric Myles 22 Posted 01/08/2026 at 14:19:04

Tony #20, isn't it the scouts job to identify, track and recommend players and only then does the manager cast an eye over them, do some due dilligence and then have the final say?

In some cases maybe, the manager does say "I want that Dibbling kid, don't come back without him", but rarely.

And since we now have a Recruitment Committee, it seems very much that the important sides of the job, i.e. identifying players, setting budgets, negotiating transfer fees and contracts is done by the specialist members of said comittee, with the manager only having the final yay or nay.

If the budget doesn't allow for the transfer fee, agents fees and player salaries then some players may not even end up on the managers desk?