Stanley Mills only burst into Frank Lampard's plans at the beginning of this summer when, before the US tour, the Everton manager was looking for another player to help with first-team training.
Now Mills is on the verge of a breakthrough season after a July he will never forget. It was a remarkable month for the teenager that took him to Baltimore, Minneapolis and Blackpool as he, along with academy starlets Lewis Warrington and Reece Welch, forced his way into Blues boss Lampard's thinking.
And then, just when he could have been forgiven for closing the month out with a rest, Mills instead ended it with a bang - not just claiming a hat-trick but also providing an assist and hitting the woodwork in the under-21 side's demolition of Southport at the weekend. What happens next for Mills remains to be seen but Lampard has stated he is likely to remain on Merseyside as he focuses on what the youngster - and some of his academy team-mates - can offer the first team during a campaign in which squad depth will matter more than ever.
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Everton's pre-season friendlies began with a disappointing defeat to Arsenal in the US, a game in which the fitness levels of their opponents - who had already started their warm-up games - made a clear difference. The performances of Mills, Warrington and Welch were one of the positives the Blues could draw from the match, however. All three were given the second half to show what they could do. All three made an impression before the closing stages, when Mills was involved in one of the most notable moments of the US tour - the 18-year-old refusing to back down when targeted by opponents in an incident that ultimately saw James Tarkowski stride to his support.
Speaking after the game, Lampard told reporters Mills had risen to first-team consideration in barely a week: "Stanley trained so well last week at Finch Farm that he had to come on the trip as far as I saw it. I could have had other solutions at right wing-back but he got himself in there and that's a great message for all the young players in the squad - if you apply yourself, understand what your position is, fight to show you deserve a place and then play like Stanley did tonight you will get opportunities... if he keeps developing he will be part of the squad for this season, which is great for him."
The Arsenal game was huge for Mills and helped to continue his progression within older minds in the Everton setup. The importance of pre-season for a young player cannot be understated according to Leon Osman, who rose from the Blues' academy to make more than 350 Premier League appearances for the club. He said those on the periphery of a squad had to use the summer to make themselves known - and believed the three teens who played against Arsenal, including Mills, had done just that.
Osman told the ECHO: "It's probably the most important part of the season because you are part of the travelling squad, you are part of the 20+ players that go away and because of the fitness demands and because of the amount of substitutions that can be made there will be an opportunity. Then it's about: 'Can you be brave enough to take it and can you be good enough to take it?' First of all you want to stand out. If you don't stand out you want to look like you belong and I thought all three of those young players, Welch, Warrington and Stanley Mills did that brilliantly. I thought, at the very least, they belonged where they did and I actually thought they were three of our better players."
Mills, who joined Everton's academy from Leeds United aged 14, was back in action again against Minnesota United. He was given just over 20 minutes as he split the second half with Warrington. Speaking to the ECHO after that match it was Anthony Gordon - whose path out of the academy Mills hopes to follow - singing the praises of the youngster. Asked what he had made of Mills' progression, he said: "It's been different for me because I am usually the youngest one so to have them [the academy talents] has been a bit weird, I feel old now, but Stanley has been really good on the tour so he can be proud of himself. I think for the young ones it's always tough coming away because you don't get as many minutes as you would like but they have just got be self-aware and keep working hard."
Mills received the final 10 minutes in the 4-2 win at Blackpool before being rewarded with a run-out at Goodison Park on Friday for the closing stages of the Dynamo Kyiv 'match for peace'. It was some achievement for a player drafted into the first-team squad when pre-season started in the first week of July that he ended the month as one of just 14 players to have featured in each of Everton's four friendlies.
He was not done there, however. When the U21s made the short trip north to Southport on Saturday, Mills made sure he grabbed another opportunity to showcase his development.
Despite his Goodison adventure the night before, he not only played but grabbed the spotlight and ran the show - winning a penalty he then converted in the fourth minute before setting up Tom Cannon to double the young Blues' lead with barely 15 minutes on the clock. Mills drilled in his second from 15 yards, then hit the post before completing his hat-trick in the 54th minute.
Praising him after the game, U21s head coach Paul Tait said: “He was outstanding. He’s been with the first team and we’ve had good reports back about him. He’s a talented lad and he’s also a conscientious worker. He’s dedicated with really good application and I knew that when he came back to us today there wouldn’t be a problem with him.”
Mills, son of former England defender Danny Mills, was an integral part of what was the Under-23s set-up at Finch Farm last season. After signing his first professional contract in July 2021, he went on to play in all but one of the Blues' 26 Premier League 2 matches, scoring three goals and providing four assists.
After grabbing the attention of his footballing idol, Lampard, he now looks set to be involved with the first-team squad after a dramatic rise over the past four weeks.
Following Mills' 45 minutes against Arsenal, Lampard said "it feels like it’s the right time" for him to stay on Merseyside as opposed to being loaned out. With clubs set to be able to name nine substitutes and play five of them, squad depth will be vital this season and Mills' versatility could be crucial, Lampard adding in Baltimore: “I think he can do wing-back, I think he can do a number eight in midfield, more central, a right-sided central midfield player, depending on how you are playing, and an aggressive right-back. He can run, every running session we are doing he’s right at the front. He can run all day."
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