Everton add to Under-23 side

Everton have announced the signing of German youth international Anton Donkor on loan from VfL Wolfsburg. The left-footed 19-year-old will play in David Unsworth’s Under-23 side for the rest of the season.

The Liverpool Echo reports that Everton have paid £100,000 loan fee for Donkor with the option to make the move permanent for around £1.5m.

German paper Wolfsburger Allgemaine broke the news yesterday saying that the youngster was at USM Finch Farm to hash out the details and the club confirmed the deal this morning.

The Göttingen-born player has yet to break into the Wolfsburg senior side, though he has regularly been part of the training set up and traveled to the winter training camp in La Manga. He plays for VfL II in the regional league, mostly on the left of the midfield.

Donkor has made 98 youth level appearances for the club, scoring 29 times. He also has seven youth international caps for Die Mannschaft. Aston Villa were reported to be chasing the player but it appears Everton have swooped in, with the player saying to evertonfc.com -

“I’m very happy and grateful to be here. I know this is a great club and I like the way they play. I’m looking forward to challenging myself in English football.

“USM Finch Farm is an impressive place. The facilities are great and I’m looking forward to getting started here.

“I think I can learn from the good young players that are already here and hopefully we can be successful together.”

The U23 side is leading Premier League 2 and has been widely lauded for the development of youngsters Tom Davies, Mason Holgate and Dominic Calvert-Lewin who have all moved up to the senior squad now.

While an unheralded name, the signing of Donkor is representative of Steve Walsh’s wide-ranging scouting policies and continued commitment to building the club from the youth level up.