Everton are in the market for a new right-back, and one of the club’s targets could be a real weapon at David Moyes’ disposal if he joins.
Toffees fans are expecting some big moves by the club this summer after the disappointing end to 2025/26.
And the right-back position is high on the agenda, with the Jake O’Brien experiment having gone on for longer than most people would like.
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To his credit, O’Brien has had some solid outings at right-back under David Moyes.
But towards the end of 2025/26 he started to struggle, and that reinforced that notion of moving him into the middle alongside Jarrad Branthwaite for next season.
In the meantime, Everton have been linked with Raoul Bellanova – and that could be an exciting move for one reason in particular.
Raoul Bellanova would be Everton’s fastest player
One of the main criticisms of Everton’s team has been that it has lacked pace.
Certainly in the backline there isn’t much speed, and there also isn’t much of it on the wings either, with Iliman Ndiaye and Jack Grealish more technicians than blistering wide players.
But Raoul Bellanova would inject a bit of pace, and then some.
According to the official UEFA website, Bellanova clocked a top sprint speed of 35.81km/h in the 2025/26 Champions League, which is pretty frightening.
Last season, the fastest Everton player was actually Thierno Barry, who clocked a top speed of 35.35km/h, which he registered during the 1-0 win against Aston Villa in January.
For context, the fastest player overall in the Premier League in 2025/26 was Jackson Tchatchoua of Wolves, who did 37.30km/h, ironically against Everton.
The top nine fastest sprints after that were all over 36km/h.
So Bellanova would be coming in as not just the new fastest player at Everton, but one of the quickest players in the whole division.
But while that pace would be very nice to have, Bellanova unfortunately didn’t offer too much in the way of creativity, registering just two assists. He also scored just one goal.
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Fans have been clamouring for a new set of full-backs who can contribute in the final third.
On the right side, O’Brien obviously offers a lot of physicality and defensive solidity. But given he’s naturally a centre-back, attacking contributions are going to be minimal.
Everton need to weigh up if there is potential for Bellanova to have a greater output to go with that very impressive turn of pace.
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