Jake O’Brien handed golden Everton opportunity after latest developments
Jake O’Brien may have been handed a golden opportunity at Everton after news emerged of clubs showing their interest in signing Michael Keane on a pre-contract deal in January.
Keane has featured regularly for the Toffees this season and has likely played a lot more than he expected to due to the injuries Jarrad Branthwaite has suffered.
Teams from the MLS, Serie A and Premier League have all reportedly started to eye up a move for the 31-year-old with his Goodison Park exit now starting to line up (The Times, 2 December).
O’Brien was brought in during the summer transfer window but hasn’t yet been afforded much of a chance in the Toffees’ first-team.
However, with Keane now seemingly set to leave the club, this could open a doorway into Sean Dyche’s first-team set-up for the Republic of Ireland international and allow him to gain some game time and continue improving his skills.
Why Everton and Sean Dyche need to entrust Jake O’Brien more
Although Branthwaite is now back fit and has been reintegrated into Everton’s starting XI, there’s no way that both he and James Tarkwoski will be able to play each game for the rest of the season.
Granted, the duo are the strongest centre-back pairing at the club but they will still need to have a rest every now and then.
There’s no doubt that O’Brien was brought to Goodison Park as a back-up centre-back but with the amount of time Branthwaite spent on the sidelines, it was quite a surprise to not see Dyche turn to the former Lyon man more.
Indeed, he did give the defender some time on the pitch against Manchester United when they were already 4-0 down but rather than just these cameo appearances here and there, it feels like he deserves a more consistent run in the team.
Only time will tell what the future holds but if Keane does end up getting a move away from Everton, it could form the ideal path for O’Brien to stake his claim for a spot in the starting XI.
In other Everton news, Phil McNulty has mooted a Sean Dyche “emergency” to start to occur at Goodison Park.
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