Daniel Feliciano

Sat 31 December 2022 13:30, UK

Everton only decided to trigger the recall option in Ellis Simms’ loan deal with Sunderland in the last 24 hours, according to the Liverpool ECHO.

The Toffees have brought back academy starlet Simms from his loan in the Championship after seven goals in 17 games, as they look to bolster their attacking options.

But according to journalist Joe Thomas, writing on his personal Twitter account (31 December) Everton were still considering whether or not to bring him back late on Saturday morning.

“Understand that, as per reports elsewhere, the recall clause has been triggered and Ellis Simms will now return to Everton,” he wrote.

“First available game will be Brighton on January 3. Moved quickly – decision was still under consideration late yesterday morning.”

Panic stations?

Simms has had a decent run in the Sunderland team this season with seven goals, more than double what Everton’s top scorer has got, but is he really the answer?

Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Neal Maupay are proven Premier League strikers and both have been struggling massively to find the net under Frank Lampard.

Simms is definitely not better than either of them when it comes to his all-round game, and Everton should be really be considering finding a more senior option to bring in than potentially stagnating Simms’ development.

If he’s not going to come back and play regularly then recalling him seems like a somewhat pointless exercise, and stinks of panicking from the board and Lampard.

Making the decision so quickly also tells you that they’re worried about not looking active in the window, but whether this is the right decision or not remains to be seen, but we won’t be holding our breath on this one.