Everton confirm forward’s loan exit to relegation strugglers as manager speaks out
David Moyes will not want to lose any of his first-team squad during the January transfer window.
Everton were beaten 4-2 by Brentford on Sunday afternoon, a result which proved that the Toffees need to make additions this month rather than sanctioning exits.
The recent absences of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye have shown that Moyes’ side lack sufficient depth in attacking areas.
However, the Merseyside outfit are still willing to loan out one of their youth products for the second half of the campaign to aid his development.
Francis Okoronkwo joins Doncaster Rovers
Francis Okoronkwo moved on loan to Lincoln City over the summer, making the step up to League One after spending the 2024-25 campaign with Salford City in League Two.
The 21-year-old striker made 13 league appearances for Lincoln in the first half of the season, scoring one goal, but has only featured for four minutes in their last six matches.
As a result of the lack of game time, Everton have recalled Okoronkwo and immediately sent him out on loan to relegation-battling Doncaster Rovers for the second half of the campaign.
The decision was confirmed in an announcement by Everton on Tuesday evening.
While Lincoln are challenging at the top of League One, Doncaster are second bottom and battling to beat the drop, which should give the young centre-forward more chance of being involved.
Rovers boss Grant McCann is adamant that he can give Okoronkwo more minutes than he has been getting.
McCann: “We can offer him more game time here [than he was getting at Lincoln].
“He’s a young centre-forward. Powerful, quick, aggressive, really good pace. It’s important that we get him into positions to score, and I have no doubt he’ll get into those positions.”
Everton have striker issues of their own
Okoronkwo is clearly not at the level required to feature in the Premier League for Everton, but Moyes’ side still have major issues at centre-forward.
Despite Thierno Barry and Beto both finding the back of the net in the defeat to Brentford, the pair have been abysmal this season.
Beto has scored just two Premier League goals in 20 appearances, and Barry has managed just one more than his fellow striker.
Everton currently sit 12th in the table, but are just three points behind Chelsea in fifth, so have a real chance of snatching a European place.
However, if they don’t bring in a proper goalscorer in the January window, their season will surely fizzle out.