Everton January transfers ‘Encouraging’ and needs to continue – Patrick Boyland
Everton have come flying out of the traps in January with two signings through the door within four days of the window opening.
And while on the pitch, the club are struggling in the Premier League, the off-field change of heart is reason for encouragement for Toffees’.
The Athletic’s Patrick Boyland is among those who like what they see of the moves the club are making in the transfer window and where it could take them in the future.
“It’s encouraging to see Everton go for this profile of player,” Boyland said on Twitter, “Young and hungry rather than ageing star on way down
“This has to be the model now in the main”
Time for a change
In many respects, Boyland is right, Everton can’t keep performing at Premier League level if they don’t invest in young talent.
In an ideal world, both January signings, Nathan Patterson from Rangers and Vitaliy Mykolenko from Dynamo Kyiv, hit the ground running and cement themselves as the number one choice in their position by the end of this season.
They then go on to have a fruitful couple of years and they either stay and star in the Everton side, or a big club comes in and you can make a healthy profit on the player.
If you go off what the experts are saying about Patterson and Mykolenko, then that isn’t an outrageous claim as both arrive at Goodison Park amid rave reviews.
What Everton can’t do though is exclusively buy young talent. Inexperienced pros like Patterson, who has played less than 2,000 minutes of professional football for Rangers, need the old heads in the dressing room to guide them through tough times.
And often when a heavy impetus is put on young players, they aren’t hitting their potential every week and too many youngsters could see the club struggle even further and relegation would massively hinder their ambitions.
In other Everton news, Michael Ball has blasted Everton man after a major development.