Everton were one of the more active teams in the transfer market during the previous summer window regarding the number of deals that took place at the Merseyside club.
However, one player that the Toffees were linked with that we feel they have dodged a bullet on is Dan James.
After making four appearances for Leeds United at the start of the season in which he failed to provide a goal or an assist, the winger joined Fulham on loan until the end of the season.
Since then, the 24-year-old has made two appearances for the west London club and is still yet to register a goal contribution this season.
In his four appearances at Leeds, the attacker had just three shots at goal and only one of them was on target, as well as failing to make even one key pass for Jesse Marsch’s side.
Last season saw the Welshman score four goals and provide four assists in 33 appearances.
He also racked up one of the highest averages of bad controls per game (1.7) out of players at the Yorkshire club that started more than seven league games.
In addition to that, James ended the previous campaign with one of the lowest percentages of successful passes (71.7%) out of any outfield player at Leeds that started more than one league match.
His overall performances earned the winger a rather underwhelming season rating of 6.44/10 from WhoScored, leaving 14 other players with higher ratings than him.
To put that into perspective, that rating would have made James one of the lowest-rated players at Everton that started more than one league match last season.
Having previously been described as a “headless” player by Darren Bent, it’s safe to say, in our view, that Everton and Thelwell made the right move by not securing a deal for the £50k-per-week attacker during the summer.
