Everton could take transfer chance to fill key position after ‘concrete interest’ claim
Everton have been linked with a potential transfer move for Merlin Rohl of Freiburg
Everton could try and add a touch of magic to their team with a transfer swoop for “Merlin” according to reports. We’re not talking about the mystical wizard of Arthurian legend though but rather Merlin Rohl, a 22-year-old German who plays for Freiburg, who currently sit seventh in the Bundesliga.
Florian Plettenberg of Sky wrote on X: “Everton have indeed expressed concrete interest in Merlin and are closely monitoring his situation – as first per Kicker and now confirmed.
“A summer move is not being ruled out by any of the parties involved. However, it would have to be a very appealing club and a top offer. Freiburg are demanding more than €20m. The 22-year-old attacking midfielder’s dream is to move to the Premier League one day.”
READ MORE: Everton issue statement over Goodison Park ticket resales as warning sent over banning ordersREAD MORE: Abdoulaye Doucoure abuse after Everton and Liverpool clash ‘some of the worst’ Premier League has seen
But while the prospect, who has represented his country at Under-18, U19, U20 and U21 levels is regarded as a star of the future, perhaps any excitement from Blues should be tempered by the aforementioned article in Kicker, Germany’s leading sports magazine, that starts: “Merlin Rohl is a bit off.”
The report continues: “The Freiburg U-21 international initially missed large parts of the first half of the season due to a torn syndesmosis. Although the injury healed faster than expected, and Rohl quickly returned to playing time, the highly talented 1.91-metre-tall (6ft 3in) player often lacked ease and effectiveness in his performances.
“Rohl, a rising star across the league in the 2023/24 season, has learned the tough side of the professional game. After three starts in early March, he felt he was on the right track, and coach Julian Schuster also praised him.
“But instead of further improvement, two minor setbacks followed. A bruised heel meant Rohl missed the games against Leipzig and Mainz, as well as the subsequent international break with the DFB juniors.
“After that, a persistent infection continued to slow him down – Rohl was also missing from the SC squad for the recent home defeats against Union Berlin and Dortmund.”
In terms of Everton’s supposed interest, the piece claims that the Blues have already spoken to the player’s representative and manager David Moyes knows Rohl given that with his previous employers, West Ham United, he faced him and his Freiburg side no fewer than four times in the Europa League last season. Described as technically gifted and versatile, given that he can also operate at left-back where the Blues currently have no natural alternative to Vitalii Mykolenko, Rohl has been compared to Bayern Munich and Germany star Leon Goretzka.
Born just outside the German capital city of Berlin in Potsdam, the city where the ‘Big Three’ of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Harry Truman and Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin held their 1945 conference to plan the post-Second World War peace, Rohl’s youth career started nearby at SV Babelsberg 03, but, along with those fitness issues, another area of concern could be the lack of goals from a player who primarily operates in an attacking role. Rohl has hit the net just three times in Bundesliga matches – all coming last season – and has drawn a blank in all competitions across 17 games so far this term.
While that brings a significant question marks, just what might he potentially bring to Moyes’ men? Comparisonator’s virtual transfer tool allows us to correlate Rohl’s statistics in the Bundesliga this season against Premier League players in his position.
