Everton defender Nathan Patterson lauded on strong form, tipped for another 50% boost
Nathan Patterson can still improve further and could “become a real diamond” for Everton after a strong start to the season, according to Michael Ball.
After arriving last January for what was then the record amount that a Rangers player had been sold for at an initial £12million, the young Scot only saw 45 minutes of action in a Toffees shirt – in an FA Cup tie against lower-league Boreham Wood.
Injury further derailed his season but he continued to be picked for his national team, raising the prospect that having been brought in during the dying days of the Rafael Benitez era he may not have a future under Frank Lampard.
But after a full preseason with the Everton manager he has clearly gained his trust and has since started every game this season.
He has now followed fellow January arrival Vitalii Mykolenko in proving himself a sensible signing and former Toffee Ball thinks there’s even more to come.
Writing in his Liverpool Echo column, Ball said: “Nathan Patterson is playing well and I hear a lot about him with the Rangers connection but I believe there’s another 50% in there yet to come from him, he’s a young kid and could become a real diamond for us.”
Better late than never
There was a genuine question hanging over the 20-year-old during the relegation battle last year of whether he might join the long list of signings that never amounted to anything at Goodison Park.
The defence was a mess for most of the campaign but when he was fit he couldn’t get into it, leaving captain Seamus Coleman to toil down the right.
Patterson is making up for lost time now though, and with Mykolenko only 23 it could mean that the two full-back spots are locked up for years to come if their pair continue to develop as planned.
With the additions of James Tarkowski and Conor Coady in the middle it is a new-look back line this season now that Patterson has been elevated to clear starter.
While Everton are still looking for their first win of the season – somehow after they appeared to have done enough in the Merseyside derby were it not for some more choice refereeing – it is no longer the defence that is the issue.
There is a distinctly stronger look to the team at the back, and certainly now in midfield, so after the exit of Richarlison and the latest injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin it is the attack that needs to step it up a gear now.