Everton scouting branded a ‘disgrace’ as shocking numbers shared by sources

Everton had no Liverpool-born players in the starting XI for their latest under-21s fixture – and sources with knowledge of the situation have alarmingly described the Toffees’ current scouting set-up a ‘disgrace.’

Everton have a long history of developing top players from Merseyside, with Wayne Rooney, Leon Osman, Ross Barkley and, more recently, Harrison Armstrong, good examples.

The Toffees’ scouting and youth set-up was revered in the football world during David Moyes’ first stint as manager, but in recent years the club have lost many of their most promising youngsters and developed significantly less top players.

And in Everton under-21s’ 2-1 defeat to Southampton under-21s last week, not one player from Liverpool started the game, with many signed from other club’s youth squads over the past few years.

It is worth noting that there are some Liverpool-based players in the Under-21s squad – Jack Tierney and Jack Butler, who are sidelined with injuries, and Armstrong, who is on loan with Derby County.

But numerous sources with knowledge of the situation have described Everton’s scouting set-up as ‘nothing like what it used to be’ and a ‘disgrace’ compared to how strong it once was.

During Moyes’ first stint in charge, Everton had over 300 scouts working in the North-West, recruiting the best youngsters from local grassroots football. However, that number has now decreased dramatically to just over 40 scouts in total to cover national and local recruitment, per sources.

Another concerning point raised by our sources is that clubs like Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool pick up players from four-years-old, while Everton now only tend to pick up players from the under-sevens bracket upwards – meaning they miss out on a big percentage of talented young footballers.

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Everton must be more ‘aggressive’ in scouting youngsters

Everton’s new owners, The Friedkin Group, have made strengthening the academy one of their priorities for the coming years, something that Moyes is no doubt keen to encourage.

Our sources have emphasised the importance of increasing Everton’s number of local scouts, bringing the local ‘DNA’ back into the football club and being more ‘aggressive’ in recruitment.

They also highlighted that it is imperative scouts have a detailed understanding of grassroots football in the North-West – something that is currently lacking, in their opinion, which others dispute.

And, perhaps most importantly, Everton are urged to branch out and refocus on bringing in youngsters from four-years-old upwards again. Armstrong is one example. The midfielder, who has joined Derby on loan, was picked up by Everton at five-years-old – 13 years ago.

Everton sources reveal plan to rebuild scouting infrastructure

It is worth noting that Executive Chairman of Everton, Marc Watts, has stated that “cultivating home-grown superstars through Everton’s Academy” is one of the Friedkin Group’s key aims.

Sources close to Everton highlight that they were handed a two-year ban on signing academy players between 2018 and 2020. This, coupled with the club’s financial situation, meant that the scouting infrastructure was severely reduced.

Over the past couple of years, Everton have have worked hard to increase number of scouts based locally, despite financial restrictions and restructuring of the department.

Sporting director Kevin Thelwell has also stressed in interviews that the recent £70m generated from selling academy graduates Anthony Gordon, Ellis Simms, Tom Cannon, Lewis Dobbin and Ishe Samuels-Smith has helped to keep the club functioning.

The Toffees’ focus now is to bring in local, homegrown players and that is reflected in the number of Liverpool-based players across the youngest academy age groups.

James Vaughan, a former Everton player and academy graduate, is now overseeing Academy recruitment, and those close to Everton state that he knows the area better than anyone and what it takes to make it into the Toffees’ first team.

The hope is that under new ownership and with added investment, Everton will once again build one of the country’s best academies that attract and recruit the most exciting young players from the North-West region and beyond.

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