Everton look to the future with new signing

Earlier in the week Everton announced the signing of Ademola Lookman from Charlton for £11m, a signing that was the most expensive for a player from League One. Usually when a player moves from that division at this time of year they are then loaned back to their former club to make sure they are still getting much needed minutes on the pitch.

It was a strategy that worked out well for Dele Alli with Tottenham now reaping the rewards after his extended stay at MK Dons back in 2015 but Ronald Koeman has decided that the 19 year old is good enough to join the first team squad straight away.

So what exactly are Everton getting for their money. Well they are certainly getting a lot of promise like any player who is signed at that age but it’s not just the bags of potential that the youngster will bring it’s the raw talent he has at his disposal now.

It was only last season that the England Under 19 international was thrust into first team football at The Valley and although Charlton were eventually to be relegated, Lookman managed to find the net 5 times after making 24 appearances.

For a youngster to be producing a goal ratio of 1 in 5 in a debut Championship season is certainly something that should not be overlooked and it was that goal record that earned the attention of scouting departments up and down the country.

With the South London side dropping into League One it was then a case of not if but when Charlton would cash in on their asset. After interest from a number of clubs in the Summer, Lookman’s form has shown no real signs of let up where although at a lower level he still managed to score 5 times in 21 appearances before his big money move to Merseyside.

And it’s a move that will excite many Everton fans as many felt they didn’t quite add enough personnel in the Summer when current boss Ronald Koeman took charge especially as there was a supposed ‘transfer warchest’ available to be spent by the Dutchman.

Those transfer funds are certainly being spent now and someone of the likes of Lookman was almost a necessity. With Everton arguably too reliant on Romelu Lukaku and his support cast not quite up to scratch then they require an additional impetus in attack.

Not only that but the versatility of Lookman will provide a massive boost to the squad especially with the news that one of Everton’s few Summer signings Yannick Bolasie could now be ruled out for as long as 2018 after suffering a serious cruciate injury in early December of 2016.

Like with any youngster there is a fine balancing act as to giving the player the spotlight they so badly crave and being mindful not to burn the player out through over exposure. With Koeman’s work on the South Coast with the young talent at Southampton you would be confident that the former Barcelona defender will manage his game time accordingly.

And it’s Koeman’s track record with youngsters that almost makes these two the perfect fit and Everton almost the perfect club for his development. You get the feeling that had he signed for any of the top six teams in the division then his route to the first team would have a lot more road blocks along the way which could in turn stunt his already impressive development in such a short space of time.

With so much hype surrounding the signing of Lookman then there will undoubtedly be a clamour for him to be chucked in at the deep end and make his Premier League bow sooner rather than later. The fact that he has been drafted straight into the first team squad shows that there is certainly a purpose to his signing and that purpose is to see him unleashed on the defences in the top flight.

The future looks bright for Everton but perhaps the future is now.