Everton fans are already comparing Merlin Rohl to transfer flop as injury update emerges
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(Credit: Imago)
Oliver Walton
Fri 26 September 2025 17:20, UK
Everton fans are not happy with summer signing Merlin Rohl amid comparisons to a former injury-hit midfielder after a new update on his fitness.
Everton needed to spend big in the summer in search of progress this season after David Moyes led his side to a 13th-placed finish in the Premier League last term.
It was the first transfer window with The Friedkin Group at the helm for Everton following their December takeover, and they built a strong squad for Moyes with a number of high-profile signings added to his squad.
German midfielder Merlin Rohl joined Everton from Freiburg on deadline day on an initial loan with a £17.3m obligation-to-buy to bolster his midfield ranks further after the arrivals of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Charly Alcaraz.
Rohl made his Premier League debut as Everton drew 0-0 against Aston Villa on 13 September, but missed last weekend’s Merseyside derby, and now a new update has emerged on his fitness status.
Everton fans can see Rohl becoming the new Jean-Philippe Gbamin
Moyes confirmed on Friday (26 September) that that Rohl will miss out on Everton’s clash against West Ham on Monday (29 September) through injury, which was previously confirmed to be a hip problem.
Rohl missed a combined three months and 19 games for Freiburg last term with respective ligament tears, heel injuries and fitness issues, and his issues have clearly continued this term at Everton.
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Toffees fans responded to the latest update on his fitness with anger and desperation, with many comparing him to former player Jean-Philippe Gbamin, who only featured eight times in an injury-hit three seasons at the club between 2019 and 2022.
One supporter replied to the news by saying: “Rohl another Gbamin.
Another top signing another panic last day of the window on an injury prone player just to fill a gap instead of recruiting properly,” while another added: “Rohl must be the gbamin replacement.”
The comparisons continued as one fan said: “Hope Rohl is not becoming another Gbamin,” and that was followed by another replying: “Merlin Rohl the new Jean-Philippe Gbamin.”
More questioned the decision to sign the 23-year-old, saying: “Someone mentioned Rohl’s injury record on here a while ago, and got pure abuse for being negative.
Wasn’t wrong was he.”
Rohl will hope to return to full fitness soon to properly begin his Everton career, but he could well find it tough to become a regular starter after strong starts to the season from Dewsbury-Hall, Idrissa Gueye and James Garner.
The Germany Under-21 international will certainly not want to turn out like Gbamin, who is considered one of the biggest transfer flops in Everton’s history after he cost the club £25m from Mainz and barely ever played.
Davy Klaassen is another who many will look at as one of the club’s worst mistakes in the market as he was signed for £23.6m in 2017 but made just seven Premier League appearances before being sold after only one season for just £12m.
Rohl will not want to be like Cenk Tosun after he flopped at Everton
That era was clearly a bad one for the Toffees when they tried to spend money, as striker Cenk Tosun joined them for £27m midway through the 2017-18 campaign and only scored nine league goals over the next five seasons.
Dele Alli is also looked at as a player who failed at Everton, as he did not cost the club anything but was expected to reignite his career on Merseyside, much like Jack Grealish, but only played 13 times for them in two-and-a-half years amid injury issues and a loan to Besiktas.