When Everton signed Nathan Patterson all the way back in the 2021/2022 season, people didn't know what to expect of him. The club signed him from Rangers as a possible long-term Seamus Coleman replacement, and at 20 years old, it seemed like he would have time to settle in at the club.
As a matter of fact, he didn't play a single Premier League minute that season. He made his first team debut in the FA Cup against Boreham Wood. (Salomon Rondon scored a brace in that match to get Everton into the next round.)
However, a late-season injury sidelined him before he was due to make his Premier League debut. Injuries have been a sad but frequent trend for Patterson during his time with the Toffees.
Fast forward to 2025, and the 23-year-old Patterson, according to Transfermarkt, has played 59 total games for the Everton first team, 49 of those coming in the Premier League. During that time, he spent time competing for minutes with Coleman and Ashley Young at the right-back position.
In the 2024/2025 season specifically, he played 10 PL games, down from the 20 he played last year, partly due to another injury that sidelined him for an extended period of time.
It's safe to say that Nathan Patterson's time at the club has been less than ideal. The manager who wanted him, Rafael Benitez, was sacked the same season he was brought in, and with Frank Lampard, Sean Dyche, and David Moyes coming in as managers, Patterson has had to adapt not only to the Premier League, but to three different coaches with different ways of looking at soccer.
For the first time in a few years, however, Nathan Patterson will have a bit of continuity with a head coach who has the flexibility required to let a player like him shine as long as he doesn't get sold, which is a real possibility.
Patterson is a player who has good physical traits and good pace to match; he only has three assists with the first team. On a more possession-oriented squad, I am confident that he would have more.
But during his entire time at Everton, and more noticeably under Sean Dyche, fullbacks were deployed in a traditional sense. Patterson was never given the freedom to break forward and occupy the wide areas next to an underlapping winger, which was a mismanagement of his best traits.
Unfortunately, even with a manager who isn't afraid to experiment with his fullbacks, Patterson's future at the club is uncertain. His injury history and the context in which Everton are in make it possible that his gifts will be better appreciated somewhere else.
The reality is that Everton aren't in a position to average more than 50% in possession every single match, and in the Premier League, transition play decides matches, and having an attacking fullback like Patterson can turn from a blessing to a curse really quickly.
What does Patterson need to do to save his Everton career, if he's given the opportunity to do so next season? In my opinion, he has to show that he can carry himself defensively and improve his decision-making. Will he be the first person to track back? Can he protect the ball? Does he know when to switch play? Those are aspects of his game that he hasn't developed fully that would complement his natural ability.
If he can do those three things, I am confident that he will have his best season as an Everton footballer in 2025/2026. The big question is whether the club will give him the chance to prove the doubters wrong.