Four Everton youngsters set for defining summer as club weighs up next options

Four Everton youngsters set for defining summer as club weighs up next options

Everton will continue to need youth through the next weeks of pre-season but decisions will have to be made on several players on the cusp of first team football

Isaac Heath passes the ball during the pre-season friendly match between Accrington Stanley and Everton at Wham Stadium. Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images

Everton’s academy players were given an opportunity to show their potential when they joined up with the senior team for the first pre-season friendly against Accrington Stanley. Harrison Armstrong and Harry Tyrer, two players pushing to be part of David Moyes’s squad for the first season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, received the heaviest workload .

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But there were also chances for the likes of Will Tamen, Isaac Heath, Jenson Metcalfe and Justin Clarke at the Wham Stadium.

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With a busy summer still set to burst into life in the transfer market, the ECHO takes a look at the academy players set for an intriguing few months that will define the next stage of their development.

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An experienced head on young shoulders

At 23, Harry Tyrer is perhaps too old to be called a youngster. He is also too experienced, having spent two seasons on loan - first at Chesterfield then at Blackpool. But having been at the club since he was seven, this summer represents the chance to make an impression with Everton, the opportunity he will have been waiting years for.

Tyrer was the most senior keeper in the club’s ranks for the first week of pre-season and played the full game at Accrington as a result, with Jordan Pickford only returning to Finch Farm the day before the game. He looked composed for most of the fixture , making some useful saves and looking comfortable with the ball at his feet - not easy in the torrential downpours that fell before and during the match. Stanley’s goal was messy, but it did stem from Benn Ward being unmarked at the back post from a corner.

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Tyrer was always going to slip down the pecking order with a back-up goalkeeper to Pickford, one with top-flight experience, an essential target this summer after the departures of Asmir Begovic and Joao Virginia. The arrival of Mark Travers to fill that spot was confirmed on the morning of the first summer friendly.

But there is still room for a third choice keeper within the squad and the coming weeks will showcase whether that will be Tyrer. Giving him that responsibility would save the need to bring in additional face while also raising his profile and confidence - though several Football League clubs are reportedly tracking his availability and could yet test Everton’s resolve.

Harrison Armstrong - where is development best served?

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The most promising starlet at the club, Harrison Armstrong already has Premier League minutes and is battle-hardened by a stint helping to save Derby County from Championship relegation. Everton’s best performer at the Wham Stadium , the 18-year-old burst onto the scene 12 months ago when Sean Dyche plucked him from the Under-18s to help fill out his injury-hit pre-season squad and the midfielder has not looked back.

The question is not whether he will get his chance at Everton just whether it will come this season. In a threadbare square with gaping holes in several positions, the England youth international offers talent in an area that needs depth and would likely get chances this season. The decision to weigh-up, given Moyes would still need reinforcements in the middle, is if he may benefit more from being a starting player in the top half of the Championship than being a squad player on Merseyside.

Isaac Heath open to loan but cameo was impressive

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Isaac Heath helped to set the game alight on Tuesday when he arrived in the second half with fellow academy winger Justin Clarke. The 20-year-old has prospered on the right in Paul Tait’s U21s - forming a good partnership with defender Roman Dixon - but entered the fray on the opposite flank. From there he showed little fear and charged at defenders , eventually forcing one to bring him down for the penalty from which Beto levelled.

Heath earned U21s player of the year last season and is looking to go on loan this season if there is no pathway to the first team.

His route may well be blocked by September, with Everton having several options on the left and the right wing being considered a priority for at least one signing, potentially two.

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Until new faces come in Heath will continue to get chances to make a positive impression though - right now he is essentially the most senior specialist right-wing option at the club.

What next for talented forward after loan spell

Francis Okoronkwo has long been considered as one of the more exciting prospects emerging at Finch Farm. The forward signed from Sunderland later in his development but has an eye for goal and had good moments in his first senior loan spell last season, scoring three times in League Two with Salford City.

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The 20-year-old will likely have to go on loan again if he is looking for first-team football but where he ends up will be a strong indication of how his progression to date is being viewed.

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