First it was Lewis Warrington. Then it was Zan-Luk Leban. Now the number stands at 11.
That is 11 new contracts signed by players in Everton’s Academy set-up so far this summer. The number could grow in the coming weeks, too.
In addition to the new deals, and the arrival of 12 new scholars, there have also been a number of appointments made by Blues director of football Kevin Thelwell. Some pretty major in the grand scheme of things.
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The biggest is the arrival of Gareth Prosser as the club’s new Academy director, while Leighton Baines, Paul Tait and John Ebbrell have all been handed new roles.
To say it is quite the change would be an understatement. But one thing is for sure, this is all the work of Thelwell, who is seemingly on a mission to freshen things wherever he can.
Plenty has been made over the past few years about the need for change in Everton’s first-team, but the same could also be said for the club’s Academy.
In recent years, the production line has seemingly dried up. Once renowned for producing their own players, something, somewhere, has gone wrong in recent seasons.
Granted the upheaval at first-team level certainly hasn’t helped, but Everton seem a long way away from what seemed like a golden generation when they claimed two Premier League 2 titles in three years.
But now things appear to be changing. Not only have Everton ensured all their up and coming talent have remained at the club, but one familiar theme has emerged in recent weeks.
That is Kevin Thelwell seemingly taking a hands on approach in the contract extensions. Not only does his name regularly appear in press releases confirming the new deals, but it is clear he has been the driving force behind many of the contracts.
“Joe has been with us since the age of 15 and his attitude and progression in that time have been very impressive,” Thelwell remarked after Joe Anderson penned a new deal with the club.
But it was what the Everton chief said next that really struck a chord. He added: “We have a clear plan for Joe to continue his development with us and look forward to helping him fulfil his potential.”
The word plan is often bandied about on a regular basis in football, but in recent years it felt like Everton had no such thing. Marcel Brands seemingly spent a large amount of his time trying to make things work at first-team level, and never really round to implementing what he wanted to do at youth level.
But Thelwell is clearly taking the bull by the horns and seems determined to stamp his authority on as many aspects of the club as he can. This can only be a good thing.
In normal circumstances change is feared, but in Everton’s case here, change was drastically needed. Things couldn’t stay the way they were.
For a club that has long been the victim of some shocking transfer business, hopefully the revamp Thelwell is currently overseeing will result in the Blues saving millions in the transfer market in years to come.
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