Everton 'linked' with move for experienced figure Ricardo Rodriguez - who would be a perfect free signing


Everton should look to consolidate their interest in Ricardo Rodriguez - who would be the perfect free signing this summer.
The 31-year-old Swiss international has been a consistently strong performer for his country across the past decade having starred for Wolfsburg, AC Milan, Torino and FC Zurich. Yet, he finds himself without a club after being released by the Italian club despite captaining the side on 34 occasions last season.
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Hide AdAccording to Sky Sports reporter Alan Myers, the left-back is likely to be on Everton’s radar this summer. He took to X to respond to fan questions, as he replied to a question over whether he could move. ‘Inter Milan are very interested in him, I think if they make it official, he goes there.’ He then went onto claim that he was ‘pretty sure’ that he was on Everton’s radar.
Having already sold Ben Godfrey this summer, who managed a handful of appearances at left-back last season in the absence of Sean Dyche’s first-choice Vitalyi Mykolenko, Everton only have veteran Ashley Young who could fill in. Mykolenko has been a dependable and consistent figure over the course of the past two seasons but he lacks a certain ingenuity in terms of attack. Granted, he has missed just 10 games across two campaigns but having Rodriguez as another option would be a perfect foil.
Despite his age, he proved at Euro 2024 that he is still a top-class performer. He played every minute of Switzerland’s run to the quarter-finals where they lost to England to penalties. Those appearances saw him move to 120 caps for his country and he thrived on the left-side of the back three. What is interesting is that he played the majority of his games at centre-back for Torino last season, as opposed to the position in which he made a name for himself for.
Again, it was also a back three at club level. Dyche doesn’t operate with that system and it would be somewhat of a risk asking him to feature in a role in which he hasn’t played consistently since the 2018/19 season at the San Siro. And still, he remains one of the best free agents currently on the market and if no move prevails for Inter, a move to Goodison would be a smart acquisition - even if just for a season.
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