Credit: Imago

Aheed Abrar

Sun 26 April 2026 20:10, UK

Michael Keane wasn’t his vintage best for Everton against West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday.

The centre-back started for the Toffees in the 2-1 loss at the London Stadium on 25 April, with David Moyes surely displeased with his defence being all over the place.

Tomas Soucek opened the scoring for the Hammer from a corner and Callum Wilson was left unmarked in the box to get a late winner for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team.

Keane was far from perfect on the evening as the Blues dropped crucial points in the race to finish in a European spot and the Scottish manager may now need to add another position to his wishlist for the summer.

Moyes’ return to London Stadium was far from encouraging for the travelling supporters and The Friedkin Group surely have several recruitment priorities on their agenda for the upcoming transfer window.

Everton forced into new centre-back transfer

Right-back, left-back and striker should be the first three positions the Toffees look to bolster ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.

The Blues evidently need a new number nine after Thierno Barry’s struggles in the absence of Beto against West Ham.

Jake O’Brien can’t continue to be played out of position, leaving TFG with an obvious decision to make regarding their funds in the summer.

Moyes also doesn’t seem to trust Adam Aznou, leaving Vitalii Mykolenko as effectively the only option at left-back and the majority of the money should be spent on addressing these issues first.

The American owners have been reluctant to splash the cash since taking over at Hill Dickinson Stadium and a restricted budget may hinder their plans to further reinforce the defence with a centre-back.

Michael Keane game by numbers vs West Ham

Keane was heavily involved as Everton looked to build up their attacks, taking 70 touches and completing 52 passes at London Stadium, as per Sofascore.

While there wasn’t much the defender could have done in an attacking sense, he did lose possession nine times and failed to complete a dribble.

The 33-year-old gets his money to be defensively solid, but was far from it, losing one of his two ground duels, three of his eight aerial duels and committing one foul against West Ham.

With Jarrad Branthwaite’s persistent fitness issues a major concern at Hill Dickinson Stadium, the Merseyside outfit surely have reason to worry about their centre-back partnership for next season.

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