Everton scout Ross County sensation Dylan Smith as possible Seamus Coleman replacement in new transfer update
Everton have scouted the SPFL’s youngest player this season in Ross County’s Dylan Smith ahead of a possible move, the Daily Mail reports.
Although nominally a central defender the 16-year-old has been tipped as a possible replacement for club-legend Seamus Coleman at right-back.
The teenager only made his debut earlier this season against Rangers on 27 August, but has since broken into the first-team with a run of starts, culminating with 90-minutes in the 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen on Friday night (14 April) in front of scouts from Goodison Park.
Manager Malky McKay has spoken glowingly of the youngster’s “calmness” in the senior team, saying as per Press and Journal on 12 April: “He’s there on merit, he’s not there for any reason other than that.
“I was very proud of him against Celtic, making his full debut at 16 years old. He’s the youngest player in the Premiership this year, and he has just come off the back of international caps as well.”
His performance in the 2-0 win over St Johnston on 8 April earned him a place in the Scottish Premiership team of the week and has now attracted the attention of Everton.
The Daily Mail’s Transfer Confidential said on Monday: “The 16-year-old only left school earlier this season but could soon be studying how to replace Seamus Coleman in the coming months.”
Future
The Toffees have already been to Scotland to replace Coleman, 34, once, with the £16million signing of Nathan Patterson from Rangers [Sky Sports, 4 January].
If Smith is being viewed as a full-back he would have to get past his compatriot, only five years his senior, to fill the club captain’s shoes, but with plenty of movement on the horizon at centre-back he would surely be an option there as well.
Given his age he is sure to be a relative bargain compared to Patterson, and with the futures of Yerry Mina, Mason Holgate, Jarrad Branthwaite and Michael Keane all unclear he may be seen as a cheap replacement for one of the central incumbents.
Smith has impressed in his early first-team performances but it is still a small body of work for a player so young – eight games – so this scouting mission, conducted at the same time as checking out Aberdeen’s match-winner on the day Duk, may be the start of a longer process for the future.
Plans for the coming months at Everton rely on the outcome of the relegation battle, which took a negative turn under Sean Dyche with the 3-1 defeat to Fulham on Saturday (15 April).
But Scottish youngsters have been attracting a great deal of attention in recent seasons, with fellow teenager Calvin Ramsey heading to Liverpool from Aberdeen last summer.
So the Toffees may be looking to steal a march on potential rivals by getting in early for the youngest talent in the division, potentially even with a possible eye on next season being played out in the Championship.