I recently speculated in a previous article about which current youth squad members were likely to one day play for the senior squad, but Koeman recently delivered his verdict on the subject in a press conference. The message Koeman gave to fans suggests it could be a while before we see more graduations to the Everton senior squad.
After the incredible season the Everton U23’s have had, and seeing the emergence of wonder-boy Tom davies, there has been more speculation than ever as to which talented youngsters would make the jump to the senior side. This speculation only became more intense when Everton were crowned champions of the PL2, which has finally been addressed by Koeman in the pre Chelsea press conference.
Koeman made a great point that the squad is currently filled with youth, and emphasised that we have more than enough for the time being. With Tom Davies being the exception, due to injuries, legitimate talent, and the Dutch preference to have a lot of youth in a squad, we have seen an abnormal promotion of youth this season. Pennington has seen occasional games, even netting his debut goal at Anfield, Lookman was identified by Steve Walsh and has impressed everyone at Finch Farm in training, and despite a perfect introduction, still has a lot to prove. Then we have Calvert-Lewin who has been effective when he comes on, and despite injuries, continues to get into the match day squad. Then finally we have Holgate who has come in for Coleman and been impressive and reliable.
Additionally, Everton are unique in that some of our most senior players who have been playing together for 4 years now are under the age of 25. We got lucky with Ross Barkley coming through the academy, then getting his chance to shine under Martinez, and defined himself as an Everton starter, in addition to signing one of the best players in the country, Romelu Lukaku.
Koeman stressed how difficult it is to make the jump into top-tier professional football, acknowledging the talent of the youngsters, though making it clear he felt their quality cannot compare to the quality of our starting 11, which is of course to be expected. But they will all get their chance, as he fully intends to use some standout players in the preseason games. Time to shine, boys.
Up the Ev.