Tom Davies’ departure creates an interesting issue for Sean Dyche and director of football Kevin Thelwell.
The 24-year-old’s exit from the club he joined aged just 11 was confirmed on Thursday afternoon, Davies opting to turn down the offer of a new contract in favour of a new challenge.
The midfielder has long been keen to secure first team football and is thought to have a number of clubs chasing his signature.
Dyche did not start Davies in any of the 18 Premier League games following his appointment as Blues boss in late January. Yet the loss of the youngest player to captain Everton still creates a significant problem.
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Davies made 179 appearances for Everton but misfortune with injury, particularly over recent years, severely hampered his progression. Last summer he was forced to watch as Idrissa Gueye, Amadou Onana and James Garner arrived to challenge for his position, while the season started with Alex Iwobi excelling in the middle after being moved there during an injury crisis.
When fit under Dyche, Davies was not able to cement a starting role in his manager’s three man central midfield and after the contract extension offered to Abdoulaye Doucoure and the emergence of James Garner in the final weeks of the campaign, it looked increasingly clear that Davies was fifth choice in his favoured position. Yet it is important to note the club wanted him to stay - a clear indication those making the decisions believed the squad was better off with him than without him.
His departure impacts Everton in two clear ways. Firstly, should Dyche wish to continue with three players in central midfield, an approach he has favoured so far, then he would likely want more than the four central midfielders at his disposal - Gueye, Onana, Doucoure and Garner. He could consider Iwobi as an option, though he is yet to play Iwobi in the position he impressed Frank Lampard in and moving him to the middle would create another position to fill.
Alternatively, he could look to the academy. Perhaps the most obvious player to give an opportunity to would have been Isaac Price, who excelled in the middle in the club’s trip to Australia in November and has earned a starting place in the senior Northern Ireland side. The 19-year-old has already turned down an offer of a new deal and committed to Belgian side Standard Liege, however, the teenager seeking first team football for himself.
Another option in the middle is the talented prospect Lewis Warrington, who enjoyed a successful loan spell at League One side Fleetwood Town last season and who was held back at Everton until the final days of the summer transfer window as he was considered for more senior duties. Warrington is highly-valued at Everton. One of his young midfield teammates Sean McAllister was also handed a new contract in April and named on the bench in the final games of the season.
Dyche bristles at any suggestion he does not seek to promote youth but opportunities have been limited for young players due to the intense pressure the senior team has been under for results in every match over the past two campaigns.
Dyche could turn to the returning loanees he has, with Jean Philippe-Gbamin, Andre Gomes and Dele Alli all set to return to Finch Farm this summer. Yet all were allowed to leave last summer for a reason. Gbamin’s agent has made clear he does not see a future for the player on Merseyside while Everton would be likely to listen to interest in Gomes despite a good campaign at Lille. Dele presents a compelling challenge and would significantly improve Everton should Dyche be able to find any semblance of the player who showed such class for Tottenham Hotspur and England. But he has endured a difficult few years and experimentation with him would be expensive - the 27-year-old is seven games from triggering a £10m payment to Spurs.
Davies’ departure could therefore force Dyche and Thelwell into the transfer market at a time when funds are thought to be limited and the priorities lie elsewhere - any money available preferably needs to go on finding attacking support for Dominic Calvert-Lewin and competition at left-back for Vitalii Mykolenko.
The second troublesome consequence of his exit for Everton is that in a window in which the budget may be tight, one of few players the club could potentially capitalise on is Amadou Onana. The progress of the Belgian central midfielder has been monitored by a series of high profile clubs, with Chelsea and Arsenal having been impressed by his debut season in the Premier League. Both are embroiled in battles for other midfielders at this stage of the transfer window. Should their attention turn to Onana, Davies leaving Everton would mean the club would be left with just three trusted recognised first team centre midfielders. Any money gained from Onana’s sale would therefore need to be spent on strengthening in the middle, as well as funding recruitment in the other areas where new options are so desperately needed.
