Everton edging closer to securing defender Reece Welch to a long-term deal
Everton are edging ever closer to securing defender Reece Welch to a new long-term deal, according to Patrick Boyland of The Athletic.
The youngster’s contract expires at the end of this season and the Toffees will be looking to tie down the top talent to potentially avoid Premier League vultures circling.
Brentford are mentioned in the report as being one of the clubs which were interested in Welch during the summer transfer window, alongside others.
Boyland announced via his Twitter page that the youngster was one of the Everton prospects looking to commit their future to the Merseyside club.
The centre-back joined the Everton ranks in 2010 and has impressed thoroughly making leaps with every age group with relative ease.
His performances this season in the Premier League 2 haven’t only prompted the Blues to extend his contract but also earned call-ups to the England U20s setup.
Faith.
It’s good to see the Blues keeping faith in their young talents and it will be nice to see a fair few make the leap to Frank Lampard’s first team at some point.
With the Premier League schedule only getting more hectic every season, it’s likely more chances will be handed to the youth talents to feast on in the coming years.
Welch himself has already made three senior appearances and he’ll be looking to improve this with the Toffees if he extends his contract with the team.
Jenson Metcalfe and Katia Kouyate are two other top talents who have recently agreed to extend their stay on Merseyside with Everton.
19-year-old Welch may find it tough to make his mark on Lampard’s first-team this campaign, with tried and trusted Conor Coady and James Tarkowski’s relationship at the back blossoming.
Nevertheless, there are no better professionals in the English game to learn from, their knack for consistently staying in the Premier League for years should rub off on the youngster.