A look at loanees Lennon and Atsu and three other players whose contracts expire in the summer: Distin, Alcaraz & Garbutt.
Aaron Lennon
27 years old with 21 England caps, Lennon joined on loan from Spurs in Jan 2015. So far he has made 5 starts for Everton, scoring the winner away to QPR in his last game. In his brief time Lennon has shown a great workrate and attitude allied to pace and skill; he has proven Premier league pedigree, reads the game well and represents a much more reliable option than the enigmatic and moody Mirallas.
Verdict: Sign him up
Christian Atsu
Aged 22, Atsu joined on loan from Chelsea in summer 2014 ; so far he has made only 5 appearances (one in the Premier League), with just one start (in the League Cup) and clocked up just 110 minutes on the pitch. An established Ghana international, he was named Player of the Tournament in the 2015 African Cup of Nations. Impossible to judge him on 110 minutes, but you wonder why the Boss hasn’t put his faith in him sooner, having taken him on loan. He’s had much less game time than last year’s Barcelona loanee Deulofeu.
Verdict: A wasted opportunity; possibly take on loan for another season, but couldn’t commit to signing on what we’ve seen so far.
Sylvain Distin
Signed in 2009 from Pompey, Distin has made over 200 appearances and scored 5 goals for Everton. In 2013 he became the first foreign outfield player to make over 400 Premier League appearances. Distin will turn 38 in December. Been a good servant, a former players’ Player of the year, but the years have caught up with him.
Verdict: Say a fond farewell
Antolin Alcaraz
Paraguay international who followed Martinez from Wigan as his second signing. Injuries have limited his appearances for Everton, wearing the royal blue jersey just 17 times, 11 of which were this season. Alcaraz will be 33 in July. There’s no doubt that the Wigan links haven’t helped Alcaraz in the eyes of many Evertonians, but neither have his performances. With the exception of Newcastle at home, he’s looked very nervous and unreliable, culminating in a disastrous and costly performance in Kiev. Selecting him ahead of Stones for that vital game was one of Roberto’s biggest errors of judgement in my view.
Verdict: Let go.
Luke Garbutt
Joined Everton from the Leeds United academy in 2009. He has represented England from u16s to u21s, had loan spells at Cheltenham and Colchester and so far made a handful of appearances for Everton. Garbutt will be 22 in May. Garbutt has looked confident in his limited appearances to date, impressing with his overlapping runs and dead ball delivery, he has obviously grown up as Baines’s understudy. With the latter not having the best of seasons, and maybe looking to move on, this could be Garbutt’s big chance; he has shown enough to justify continued commitment from Everton.
Verdict: New contract
Rodger Armstrong is a passionate and opinionated Evertonian; you can follow him on Twitter @rodgerarmstrong
