As Everton fans wait for any more additions to the squad before the transfer window closes on Thursday, manager Marco Silva is quoted today as confirming that Ademola Lookman will be staying at Goodison Park.
Today’s Guardian says that Silva is determined to keep the teenage forward at Everton despite the strong interest in him from RB Lepzig, where he spent half of last season on loan.
This is I think a bit of good news for Blues supporters.
After a desperate season last time round and with several more signings still needed before the new campaign kicks off on Saturday, having Lookman in the squad at Molineux will be like welcoming a brand new player.
The young forward impressed on loan in the German Bundesliga as we’ve previously outlined. And given how well he had done for them, Lepzig were very keen to make his loan signing into a permanent deal.
They reportedly made several bids for him. And it seemed Lookman might leave Everton given his very limited opportunities under previous managers Ronald Koeman and Sam Allardyce.
Koeman’s attitude in particular was a surprise given that Lookman had joined on his watch in January 2017. Perhaps though he was a signing of Steve Walsh and not one that Koeman had much to do with, we’ll probably never know.
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And in Allardyce’s case, he’d hardly taken up the post at Everton when the January window opened and so perhaps he was willing to give Lookman a chance had he stayed. Lookman wanted more guarantees of first-team football and pushed for a loan move to the German club.
Now after a summer of uncertainty over his future, it does look as though Silva has made up his mind to hold onto the youngster and hopefully give him a real chance to continue his progress next season in a royal blue shirt.
Given the lack of new forward arrivals so far (apart from Richarlison) and the fact that Silva’s priority seems to be bringing in more defenders in this window, which the Blues certainly need, Lookman should have plenty of opportunity to play and contribute next season.