da cassino： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
da winzada777： Speaking to Sky Sports, Everton’s head of recruitment Gretar Steinsson has revealed the club are planning on loaning more of their young players abroad.
What did he say?
With Jadon Sancho enjoying a remarkable period of success playing regular first-team football at the highest level with Borussia Dortmund (he has already played 71 times for them), there has been a growing trend in recent years of clubs looking at the foreign market to potentially giving their talented academy players a loan move away.
Everton themselves have seen right-back Jonjoe Kenny become a key figure for Bundesliga side Schalke this season, racking up 13 appearances across all competitions. Now, Steinsson has backed this new approach of trying to negotiate loan deals abroad, insisting that opportunities of playing at such a good level bodes well for their youngsters.
Speaking at the Wyscout forum in Amsterdam, he said: “For us it’s very important for us to promote our younger players. We have a very strong academy with strong players coming through. We have a history of developing players and for a certain age group to reach the first-team is a big task, and that gap we’re trying to reach by putting them out on loan.
“We have players in Europe doing really well like Jonjoe and Fraser, which are very successful loans so far. So we’re really trying to educate and promote players we believe have a bright future in the game and open the world to the players. We need to get them playing at as high a level as possible and this is a great opportunity to do so. We’re planning for the future and supporting them to be great football players, That’s our focus.”
Ahead of the game
Football is all about trying to gain an advantage, and Everton’s intent on trying to get their talented academy prospects high-profile loan moves to places like the Bundesliga means they are staying on top of the game. Even now, clubs at the top-end of the table continue to negotiate short-term deals to clubs in lower divisions than them, which ultimately doesn’t provide them with the learning experience of having to adapt to a new style of play and culture.
The likes of Sancho at Dortmund, and Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson at Hoffenheim last season (he scored eight in 31 games) prove that players can accelerate their progress by plying their trades in different environments. Steinsson’s comments are a breath of fresh air for Everton, and gives the Toffees’ young starlets the best possible chance to fully realise their potential.