Everton should ensure one crucial thing happens if Tim Iroegbunam is sold

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Tim Iroegbunam could leave Everton this summer and opinion has been rather split about that possibility.

The midfielder was in and out of the starting XI in 2025/26, and finished the campaign with 29 appearances to his name, for nearly 1500 minutes.

If you were Angus Kinnear who would you be going all out for this summer? 💰

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He mainly featured when Idrissa Gana Gueye was unavailable, or James Garner was covering at right-back.

Tim Iroegbunam had some strong outings, but ultimately he never established himself as a must-pick, and it’s possible we could now see him depart – but if that happens, Everton need to be smart.

Everton must include a buy-back option in any sale of Tim Iroegbunam

In recent days it has been reported that Hull City are interested in Iroegbunam (via Hull Daily Mail).

Everton supposedly want about £20 million for Iroegbunam, which could prove prohibitive for the newly promoted Tigers.

But if Hull can’t afford him, he could well still leave for another club.

And one thing Everton must ensure if they do agree to sell him on, is that they include a buy-back clause.

At the moment, Iroegbunam is still in a relatively developmental stage of his career.

We’ve seen him have some good games for Everton, but he is also clearly still quite raw, with the technical side of his game perhaps in need of improvement.

He brings fantastic energy, physicality and athleticism.

But he doesn’t have the technical quality of a James Garner, for example. Or a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, or a Harrison Armstrong or even an Idrissa Gana Gueye.

But there is every chance he could bring this side of his game up to a high level, and that’s why Everton need to be giving themselves a chance to potentially bring him back one day if they do sell him now.

Iroegbunam is one of those players who could develop into a really top all-action midfielder. But at the moment, he’s not really in a position to threaten his rivals for regular minutes at Everton.

Historically Everton have not tended to include buy-back clauses when selling players.

But it’s something the club should look into here, given the ceiling that Iroegbunam has.

It is perhaps not something other clubs would particularly want. But it would be foolish of Everton not to at least test the waters.

Because it would be a great thing to potentially bring back a player in a few years time who has really improved, with Everton able to sign him for less than his true market value.