(Credit: Imago)

James Barker

Sat 30 May 2026 20:10, UK

Georgios Vagiannidis would provide Everton with the attacking presence they desperately need at the right-back position.

David Moyes has long been touted as looking to upgrade down the right flank of his Everton defence, after seemingly not being convinced with his options there in 2025-26.

Jake O’Brien was the Toffees’ starting option there for most of last season, but the Irishman is a centre-back by trade and struggled to offer much going forward.

Meanwhile, Nathan Patterson appeared in only seven Premier League games last term, and long-time servant Seamus Coleman is leaving Merseyside as a free agent respectively.

So, right-back appears to be high up on Everton’s summer transfer to-do list, and in Vagiannidis, the Greek talent looks a no-brainer to bring to Hill Dickinson Stadium.

How strong is Everton-linked Georgios Vagiannidis in attack?

Vagiannidis could reportedly cost Everton £8.6million, which for a club that love to shop for shrewd deals, that has the potential to be one of the bargain buys of the upcoming summer window.

Having only joined Sporting last summer from Greek giants Panathinaikos, the 24-year-old turned out 32 times for the Portuguese outfit in 2025-26.

Whilst he did only start 11 times in the Liga Portugal, he made the most of every opportunity he received, and posted numbers that would strongly suggest he could’ve handled greater responsibility too.

The Greek international recorded seven assists in all competitions last term, with four of those coming in league football.

As per FotMob, Vagiannidis averaged 0.28 assists per 90 in Liga Portugal, which ranked him in the top 6.2 percentile of right-backs in that division in 2025-26, whilst his 0.28 shots on target per game put him in the leading 15.4 percentile.

Meanwhile, his 90 per cent pass success rate placed him in the leading 3.1 percentile of his positional peers, whilst his 1.20 chances created per game ranked in the top 13.8 per cent respectively.

Vagiannidis also completed 1.55 successful dribbles per game, as well as winning 77.3 per cent of his aerial duels, delivering a 27.6 per cent cross success rate and took 43 touches in the opposition box.

How poor was O’Brien in attack last season?

Everton only scored 47 goals in the Premier League last season, and a lot of that was down to their full-backs not being able to carry much of an attacking threat.

This was especially clear down the right, as the defensive-minded O’Brien displayed through his underlying attacking numbers.

He averaged a mere 0.03 assists per 90 in the Premier League last season, whilst his 74 per cent passing accuracy ranked him in the bottom six percentile of his fellow top-flight right-backs.

On top of that, he created just 0.49 chances, averaged 0.17 shots on target, delivered 0.37 successful crosses and completed 0.17 successful dribbles per 90 respectively.

So, not only would Vagiannidis present a clear upgrade in the attacking department at Everton’s right-back position, but add in him costing possibly as little as a seven-figure fee, and this has to be a deal the Toffees get wrapped up as a matter of urgency.

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