George Overhill

Sat 9 September 2023 9:10, UK

Tom Davies has admitted he was unable to reach his potential at Everton thanks to their “constantly” being upheaval around the club.

The now-Sheffield United player told Stadium Astro (8 September) that it had been “hard” for him to express himself on the pitch when there were such regular changes to the squad, the manager and the tactics on Merseyside.

Davies, 25, left Goodison Park this summer when his contract expired, after rejecting an extension in order to seek more first-team football [Paul Joyce, 22 June].

Davies said (4m 30s) to the suggestions he’s looking for stability after the last few seasons: “Yeah you could say that.

“I think it’s hard for a footballer to reach their potential when they’re constantly being changed round and there’s people coming and going.

“You’re trying to make connections with different teammates, different managers, different formations, so for me, yeah I think that is a big thing that I need.

“Just knowing that I fit into a team and they want me to be here for the player who I am, I think that then gives you that confidence and that stability to then go and express yourself on the pitch.”

Not wrong

It is hard to argue with the former Everton academy product and the results in the top flight over the past couple of seasons bear out the effect the endless change has had on the team as a whole.

Injuries have clearly played a factor in halting the progress of his career, which at one point suggested he was set to become a long-term Toffees legend when he became the youngest player in the club’s history to wear the captain’s armband in 2018 [Liverpool Echo].

He essentially put politely what thousands of Evertonians feel about the Farhad Moshiri era as the vast turnover of players and managers has brought ever-diminishing returns on the pitch and helped leave the club with significant financial pressures.

After having his 2021/22 seasons virtually wiped out by a knee problem Davies played little over 500 minutes in the Premier League last term, and by the end of the season under Sean Dyche he wasn’t even making the bench, so it was perhaps no surprise that he decided it was time to move on during the summer.

With Amadou Onana, Idrissa Gana Gueye, James Garner and Abdoulaye Doucouré all ahead of him he probably would only be getting scraps again this term, although with two of the four set to leave for the Africa Cup of Nations that might have been an opportunity.

Davies is hardly the only homegrown player whose time with the club ended somewhat disappointingly, and probably won’t be the last as uncertainty continues to be a running theme on and off the pitch at Everton.

In other Everton news, a player the Toffees tried to sign this summer has been left in a “hellish situation” after he was unable to move.