Everton Loans Recap: Season so far, Pt 2

Everton have 14 players out on loan this season, in a pretty even mix of youngsters still trying to establish themselves in the senior squad and other players whose futures evidently lie elsewhere while the Blues can find adequate compensation for them.

In Part 1 we looked at the youngsters who could yet be part of the Everton side in the future.

In Part 2 today, we’ll summarize how things have gone for the rest of the loan contingent, a motley mix of not-good-enoughs and rejects.

Ashley Williams

The rapid decline of the Wales international captain continues to hit new lows, even in the Championship. The Blues sent him to Stoke City to play out the last year of his contract and though he appears to still be capable of the odd good game, surely his next step would be to hang up his boots?

He did roll back the years for a glorious Man of the Match winning performance as he led the Welsh to a 1-0 win over Republic of Ireland, but that was just days after getting the hook at the break against Spain when he was all at sea in the first half going down 3-0 in the blink of an eye.

He remains a hot-headed, volatile centrehalf too slow to track play effectively, with not a shred of leadership about him. The 34-year-old will not be back at Everton and there’s no regrets there.

Cuco Martina

The fullback meanwhile is making the best of the situation he’s in at Stoke, and has quickly turned into one of their most important players, starting the last eight Championship games. He even got his first ‘assist’ in the last game, a 1-0 win over Norwich City, when his low cross got deflected in for an own goal.

Martina has another year on his contract after this season, and it won’t be a surprise if the Potters extend him a permanent offer come the summer.

Kevin Mirallas

It’s good to see that the Belgian forward remains the same mercurial player when not lining up for the Blues either. Capable of lighting up a game with his deft touch and spectacular finishing, he is more often renowned for going missing for long periods of the game only to show up with the most ridiculous challenges. Fiorentina have already seen both sides of him in the four games he’s featured in when not injured.

The 31-year-old still has another year in his Everton contract after this season, but the Viola have been given the option to buy him outright and we’ll see if they think he’s worth the headache. Mirallas recently indicated that he didn’t want to come back to the Toffees. The Everton fans, getting spoiled by watching Richarlison, Theo Walcott, Bernard and Ademola Lookman patrolling the wings, barely even noticed his comments. See ya.

Muhamed Besic

If there’s one name here on this list that could switch over to the other group we reviewed earlier in Part 1, it would be the Bosnia & Herzegovina international. The midfielder was a big hit at Middlesbrough during his loan spell there in the latter half of last season, and Boro were happy to have him back this season too. He’s got a goal and an assist in eight Championship appearances, all in the defensive midfielder position.

He’s made himself an indispensable member at Boro but at the same time will find it very hard to break into a packed midfielders corps at Everton where he’d probably be at the same level as James McCarthy. Still, he’s only 26 and is on the Blues’ books until 2021, so nothing is off the table quite yet.

Yannick Bolasie

Remember when once upon a time we thought.. Yannick Bolasie would run down the wing for me (us)? Unfortunately for the speedy winger, a combination of injury and timing put paid to his chances at the Blues.

Blessed with large amounts of skill with little finish, he might be at his perfect level in the Championship, though he hasn’t had too much playing time at Aston Villa yet. Bolasie has about a hundred odd minutes under his belt across six games as a substitute, with two goals in that time too.

The Congolese international is under contract with Everton until 2021, so the Blues might have a decision to make on him this summer. Villa are aiming high with their star-studded squad, so if they do make it back to the Premier League they might be more amenable to buying him outright.

Sandro Ramirez

Things have just not gone well for the Spaniard over the last couple of years. He even had his best game in a blue shirt when his loan to Real Sociedad was all but confirmed, and then got injured even before playing a minute in the La Liga this season.

He has two substitute appearances so far, playing out on the wing, but hasn’t had much of an impact yet. The book is still out on him, purely because he’s only 23, but will have to show what he’s made of in the next year or so.

Shani Tarashaj

Has only three substitute appearances for Grasshopper Zurich out on the wing and has been out since then with a foot injury. Also 23 like Sandro, it seems very unlikely he’s going to don the royal blue with his contract expiring at the end of the 2019-20 season.