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Everton and Spurs have been linked with an American international - but it’s Everton who need him more.
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In spite of the relative ease with which David Moyes managed to steer Everton away from the relegation battle last season, there’s little doubt that the Toffees need to strengthen in quite a few areas before they move into their shiny new stadium.
The new ownership seems keen to invest and Everton have been linked with a bewilderingly wide range of players, but given that this is a club who have fallen afoul of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules before, there is a limit to just how much they will be able to spend.
The excesses and errors of the Moshiri years remain a factor in the rolling three-year accounting period and the club posted a pre-tax loss of £53m for 2023/24, their seventh successive financial deficit. As such, the Friedkin Group will be forced to temper their ambitions to some degree – but fresh links with one of Europe’s most versatile players may help them kill a few different birds with a single stone.
Timothy Weah could be the answer to Everton’s transfer headache
On Friday, Sport Witness reported on stories from France which suggest that both Everton and Tottenham Hotspur are in contact with Juventus to find out whether they can strike a deal for United States international Timothy Weah.
With Weah currently in America as he juggles deeply awkward meetings with Donald Trump and playing in the Club World Cup, it’s likely that we’re a few weeks away from any substantive negotiations taking place – but if we do get that far, then Weah may be just what Everton need to cover the needs of the squad without breaking the bank.
Admittedly, we don’t know how much Juventus might demand in order to sell Weah. Transfermarkt estimate his value at €17m (£14.5m), their valuations are hardly entirely reliable and with three years remaining on his current contract, that’s probably an understatement of what he would cost.
Although not necessarily a critical player for the Old Lady – only half of his 60 league appearances since moving to Serie A have been starts – his enormous versatility means that he’s important to their squad rotation. In short, while Juventus would surely consider a sale at the right price, he wouldn’t necessarily be all that cheap.
But that same versatility could make him a hugely cost-effective signing. Weah started his career as a right winger who occasionally played centre-forward but now operates either as a wing-back or winger on either side, operating on both sides of defence, midfield and as a striker on one occasion for Juventus this season alone.
Everton are already contemplating adding a free agent right-back in the form of Kyle Walker (with other options on the table) but there are warning signs that Walker’s career is in sharp decline. The 25-year-old Weah, by comparison, has years left in the tank and could not only fill the void at right-back but also offer an option on the wings and up front, both areas which also need strengthening.
Everton’s squad is, frankly, a little thin in several positions, and adding a player who could cover several areas at once seems like a pretty sensible suggestion. In that regard, at least, their need is surely more dire than that of Spurs, who need some help out wide but have good options at right-back already.
Why Weah isn’t the perfect solution to David Moyes’ problems
Of course, there’s a reason that Weah seems likely to be available this summer – for all his versatility, he has become something of a jack of all trades, and arguably master of none.
While he’s rock solid technically, as a winger he does lack the kind of dynamism that helps him get into dangerous positions, isn’t at his best taking defenders on one-on-one (he succeeds less than 40% of the times that he takes an opponent on), and isn’t a major source of goals. His five strikes in Serie A this season was a career high, and he hadn’t scored a league goal for Juventus or Lille for two years before scoring against Como on the opening day of the 2024/25 season.
His defensive work is generally strong but Weah doesn’t shine in any particular area – he reads the game well, his positioning is decent, and he’s solid in the tackle without offering any truly exceptional qualities.
Still, this is a player good enough to play for Juventus on a relatively regular basis and to earn 44 international caps by the time that he’s 25. He’s physically impressive and quick enough to give opposing defenders headaches while avoiding being outpaced by wingers running at him down the flanks. He certainly seems to be in slight better shape than Walker may be for the next couple of years.
Weah wouldn’t necessarily be a transformative signing for Everton (or Spurs, for that matter) but he offers plenty of quality and a degree of flexibility that few players can match. For a side about to embark on a rebuild restricted by financial circumstances, that sounds like a sensible deal to get done.