Kieran Maguire shares ’emotional’ Everton transfer prediction as worrying figures emerge | OneFootball

Big-spending Everton will place greater emphasis on developing players through their academy in coming years – and the rewards will be both “emotional” and financial.

That is according to finance guru and Football Insider columnist Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively about a recent study regarding academy players’ first-team game time.

The study, conducted by CIES Football Observatory, revealed that only two teams in the Premier League had handed fewer minutes to home-grown talent than the Toffees.

Tom Davies is the only academy graduate currently with the Everton first-team squad, though the likes of Jonjoe Kenny and Anthony Gordon are out on loan.

Maguire predicts that Everton will move towards a youth-oriented approach in the future and scrap the big-spending transfer policy currently in place.

He told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams: “I think it’s something Everton will address in the long-term.

“I think we’ve seen Moshiri try to accelerate Everton’s rise on the field. To do that, he’s spent a lot of money.

“Clearly, he wants to see that reflected on the pitch. Man City and Chelsea did the same and reaped the rewards.

“Everton have reaped some of the rewards but on a longer-term basis, they will move more towards a more internally developed player model.

“That’s because it’s cost-efficient to do so. But you’ve also got the emotional connection between the fans and the player.

“You’ve only got to look at the pride Man City have in Foden, Chelsea have in Mount, Liverpool have in Alexander-Arnold and Man United have in Rashford to see that.

“But it’s also just good for the balance sheet simply because you don’t have to go out and buy the players.”

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