Everton fans have every reason to be excited about Merlin Rohl, but David Moyes needs to start ramping up his minutes.
Everton’s summer transfer business has been a mixed bag so far.
Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall have impressed, but Thierno Barry has endured a slow start.
Tyler Dibling and Adam Aznou are players for the future, while Mark Travers and Tom King are competition behind Jordan Pickford.
Everton also snapped up Merlin Rohl, with the midfielder arriving on loan from Freiburg, with a permanent deal teed up.
Everton must prepare Merlin Rohl ahead of Idrissa Gueye absence
Rohl will join Everton for around £18million if the Toffees avoid relegation, so the 23-year-old should be on board for the foreseeable future.
A German Under-21 international, Rohl impressed in the Bundesliga and Everton were left convinced by his potential.
Everton players were immediately impressed with Rohl in training, but a hip injury has hampered his impact.
Rohl has only played 44 minutes of Premier League action as a result, but he needs to be brought up to speed soon.
We are now just two months away from Senegal’s first game at the Africa Cup of Nations, with Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye set to be involved.
A versatile player like Rohl, who can play in central midfield or as a number 10, could be called upon when those two players head off with Senegal.
We have seen Barry struggle to adjust to Premier League life, while Moyes simply feels that Aznou and Dibling aren’t ready yet either.
The last thing Everton need is to drop Rohl in with a lack of Premier League exposure once Gueye departs.
The coming weeks should see Rohl emerge into the Everton side from the bench, with Moyes building up his minutes ahead of the festive period.
We can’t wait to see Rohl in action, but an increased role is certainly what he needs after returning from injury.
- READ MORE: German football expert tells Everton fans exactly what to expect from Merlin Rohl, ‘he’s a natural’
How Everton can use Merlin Rohl
Rohl arrived after three goals and six assists in 60 games for Freiburg, so he is far from the finished product right now.
A huge midfielder at 6ft 3in tall, Rohl has bags of potential, and we can see two favourable roles for him at Everton.
The first is to play Rohl as a central midfielder and give him the freedom to get on the ball and go forward.
Rohl is a strong ball carrier, and he can really add a new dimension to Everton’s midfield with that quality.
That isn’t exactly a like-for-like replacement for Gueye, but his athletic qualities are clear for all to see and allowing him to work as a box-to-box midfielder could be exciting.
The other idea would be for Rohl to play as a box-crashing number 10.
Rohl has played in that role in Germany, and he could offer another threat while supporting Beto in attack.
That may mean that Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has to drop into a central midfield role to replace Gueye.
Dewsbury-Hall is open to playing in a deeper role, and that could open up room for Rohl to play as a number 10.
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