Everton must create Goodison academy pathway after Arian Allen completes Rangers transfer
Everton must now make an attempt to create a better pathway for their academy players after Arian Allen has joined Rangers.
The Gers confirmed on their website on Monday (19 February) that the 16-year-old has made the switch to Ibrox after coming through the ranks with the Toffees.
The forward’s departure marks a major blow to the Blues’ hopes of adding more of their youngsters to their senior side in the coming years.
There haven’t been many players in recent seasons who have progressed into the first team after learning their trade at Finch Farm.
Everton had put a considerable amount of time into Allen’s development after he joined the club’s academy shortly before he turned 10 years old.
The fact that the teenager has decided to move on suggests that Rangers have presented him with a better path to the first team than what was on offer at Goodison.
If that is the case, then it should be seen as a real concern for the Toffees as the last thing they will want is to see talented youngsters move on before signing a professional contract with the club.
There needs to be much more emphasis placed on showing these players that they can make it on Merseyside and forge a successful career for themselves.
The only academy player of note who finds himself in and around the first-team picture after coming through the academy is Lewis Dobbin.
But since making his debut in September 2021, the 21-year-old forward has only made 17 appearances for the club and most of those outings have been a few minutes here and there off the bench.
While Jarrad Branthwaite could be regarded as a success story for youngsters at Goodison, he isn’t actually an Everton academy product after the 21-year-old centre-back joined the club from Carlisle United for £1million when he was 17.
The Blues are clearly looking to add younger players to their squad following the signing of 19-year-old forward Youssef Chermiti from Sporting Lisbon last summer.
But that then led to fellow forward Tom Cannon, who came through the ranks at Finch Farm, making the permanent switch to Leicester City in the same transfer window following financial fair play concerns.
There seriously has to be more emphasis placed on the Toffees bringing through their own academy players as Allen’s departure should now pose questions about where the club is going wrong.
In other Everton news, Alan Stubbs has raged at what has happened to the Toffees as he shared an appeal verdict.
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