WHEN JAKE O’BRIEN moved to Lyon from Crystal Palace this time last year it was described as an example of a very modern transfer.
The €1 million deal involved two rival multi-club models, one American billionaire, and the benefit of an Irish passport in a post-Brexit landscape.
Twelve months on, the financial figures are far greater after Everton paid the Ligue 1 club €20m for the Republic of Ireland international at the start of summer window.
But the issue he has now remains a basic one: he’s a young player finding his feet at a new club and must earn the trust of his manager.
Fans will point to the fact O’Brien cost a lot of money, but then every player in the Premier costs a lot of money.
After a whirlwind 12 months there is no harm in being allowed to do your work under the radar and out of the Premier League’s unforgiving spotlight.
He has not played a minute in either of Everton’s opening two games – an opening day 3-0 defeat at home to Brighton and yesterday’s 4-0 rout at the hands of Tottenham that leaves them bottom of the table.
Goodison Park has been chaotic in recent years and there will be no single saviour or fixer of their problems.
“The reason why he (Jake) didn’t start is because Michael Keane had a very strong pre-season,” Dyche explained of O’Brien’s absence last weekend.
“He’s been very unfortunate to get injured at Preston but he’s had a very strong pre-season and he’s a very experienced Premier League player.
“Jake hasn’t got that experience but we think he’s a very good player and I think he’ll learn quickly. He’s come and been very open-minded about the nuts and bolts and how quick the game is.
“He’s a very good player and we think he’ll develop into it.”
That all seems very fair and sensible, especially as O’Brien has proven more than capable of rising to challenges and raising his standards already.
When he left Cork City for Palace in 2021 he settled in as a leader of their U-23 group. A loan move to Swindon Town in January ’22 saw him play 20 times in League Two.
Another loan to Molenbeek in Belgium’s second tier was arranged as they are part of Eagle Football Holdings (EFH), the firm owned by American billionaire John Textor that also controls Crystal Palace and is now looking to sell that stake to buy Everton.
O’Brien benefited from that multi-club model when City Football Group attempted to bring him under their wing only for Lyon, another club part of EFH, to sign him permanently from Palace.
His emergence in France caught plenty of people by surprise. It was only injury and a dreadful start to Lyon’s domestic season that offered him a chance in the starting XI.
He took it and never let go of the jersey.
History may well repeat itself but there is still no guarantee. Dyche’s preference not to thrown O’Brine straight in is perfectly understandable. For now.
If they continue to ship goals at the rate they have started this campaign then Dyche may well be forced to introduce him quicker than he prefers.
The visit of Doncaster Rovers to Goodison Park in the League Cup tomorrow almost certainly offers Everton fans their first chance to see O’Brien in competitive action.
James Tarkowski and Michael Keane have greater top-level experience but are a partnership that does not inspire any kind of confidence. Mason Holgate is back in first-team picture despite being shipped out on loan to Sheffield United last season, while highly-rated Jarrad Branthwaite will remain absent as he recovers from groin surgery.
Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, and AC Milan all began monitoring O’Brien’s situation because of his commanding performances in France so the calibre of his potential is clear.
He had signed a four-year deal at Lyon so they were in a position of strength when interest in the 23-year-old intensified building up to the summer.
Everton, despite their own complicated financial situation, were the club willing to spend the money required to bring him to the Premier League, and that naturally feeds into the confusion as to why O’Brien has been left out so far given he’s their most expensive signing of this window.
That €20m fee and another four-year contract is life-changing for the Cork native.
But the money is of no concern, only doing right by the player’s development at what remains a delicate stage of his career.
