Everton Season Review: Loan players recap

Welcome to the 2017-18 Everton Season Review. You might feel there’s nothing good that came out of the last season, and you might be mostly right. Here is the review of all 16 players that went out on loan from the Blues.

Kevin Mirallas

Performance: Underwhelming return to Olympiacos in January for the forward. His performances at Everton were not cutting it any more and going back to Greece didn’t help his World Cup chances either. Played 15 times scoring twice with two assists at Olympiacos, with 13 games and two Europa League assists at the Blues before that. Ended season in ignominy having his loan deal terminated by the Greek side.

Future Outlook: As predicted at the time, giving him a new three-year deal right at the end of the 2016-17 season did come back to bite the Blues. The 30-year-old has deteriorated rapidly and there should be no room for him at Everton any more. Expect Mirallas to get dumped off on the cheap to Standard Liege or another Belgian side.

Season Grade: D

Sandro Ramirez

Performance: The Premier League simply was not working out for him as he struggled with the physicality in England. 1 goal and 4 assists in 33 games all season for the Blues and at Sevilla showed that his 16-goal season the year before was a fluke, not the norm. Everton took a gamble with his low value release clause, and lost.

Future Outlook: Sandro is only 22 so there is still hope he could develop into something, especially under the attack-minded Marco Silva. Should be in the Blues squad when the next season starts, but do not overlook the possibility of the player being dumped off back in the La Liga this coming winter if he still hasn’t hit his stride.

Season Grade: C-

Ademola Lookman

Performance: Went out on loan during the January transfer window despite the fans clamouring for him to be given more first team appearances. Took his chances at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga with aplomb, plundering five goals and four assists for the free-scoring side in just eleven appearances.

Future Outlook: Has certainly worked his way into the first team conversation for next year, especially with the Blues’ issues on the left wing. The explosive 20-year-old will only get better from here, especially under Silva’s direction.

Season Grade: A-

Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Henry Onyekuru

Performance: Another 20-year-old forward who showed plenty of promise away from Everton. Will be bitterly disappointed with the timing of his injury, which denied him a place at the World Cup with Nigeria and likely a work permit to play in the Premier League next season. Had 10 goals in 28 appearances for Anderlecht showing off his lightning pace and goal poacher’s instinct.

Future Outlook: It appears his bridges have been burned with his manager back in Belgium, so with other clubs sniffing around for a loan (Borussia Monchengladbach?) he could go on another year’s loan. That is assuming the Blues do not apply for a special dispensation on his work permit.

Season Grade: B+

Muhamed Besic

Performance: After recovering from a long-term knee injury Mo continued to find playing time hard to come by at Everton in a packed midfield. A loan move to Middlesbrough in the Championship gave him a new lease on life, as he became a core part of the Reds’ fifth-place finish and playoff promotion attempt. He ended up playing 17 times for Boro, scoring once with two assists.

Future Outlook: Besic looked very comfortable in the Championship, and he just might have found his level there. He will come back into Everton’s summer training camp looking to seal his spot in the squad especially with James McCarthy’s injury, but let’s see how it goes under Silva especially with Mo’s contract running until 2021.

Season Grade: B

Kieran Dowell

Performance: Started the season off at Nottingham Forest like a house on fire, but cooled off along with the rest of the team in the second half of the season. Showed exactly why he is so well-thought of though, playing 43 times with ten goals and five assists.

Future Outlook: At just 20 time is on the youngster’s side. The Blues could keep him in the senior side and start grooming him as a future #10, but for his development he needs to keep playing. Another loan to a lower Premier League side makes a lot of sense for Dowell.

Season Grade: B+

Antonee Robinson

Performance: Did his chances of sticking around in the senior side no harm at all with a good season in the Championship for Bolton Wanderers. Played 34 times picking up five assists, he even got a USMNT call-up last week.

Future Outlook: Needs to continue playing to develop his skills. Everton will have a choice this summer to trust the old legs of Leighton Baines to be backed up by Robinson’s raw youth, or sign another starting calibre player and send the 20-year-old out on loan again. The latter might be more likely.

Season Grade: B

Tyias Browning

Performance: It’s hard to judge his time at a dysfunctional Sunderland side that earned a second consecutive relegation. One of Everton’s better defensive prospects, he often looked out of his depth in the Championship, but was also constantly exposed by a truly awful Black Cats side.

Future Outlook: Just turned 24 last month, and the clock is ticking for Browning. He is behind Mason Holgate and Matthew Pennington in the pecking order, and Morgan Feeney looks a better prospect too. Likely to leave this summer with just a year left on current deal.

Season Grade: C+

Matthew Pennington

Performance: Both decent and terrible in equal measures for Leeds United, Pennington didn’t do enough to justify a spot in the Everton squad for the coming summer.

Future Outlook: Somehow despite his performances the player was handed a contract extension by Everton, which would keep him at the club until 2021. You feel though that Everton will look to restock the defence cupboard this summer in the transfer market and the deal was only to strengthen the Blues’ hand in transfer talks.

Season Grade: C

Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images

Callum Connolly

Performance: The versatile player did well as a holding midfielder shielding the defence for Ipswich Town this season. He started off as a fullback and will have an interesting choice to make this summer about where he wants to play. Made 39 appearances for the Tractor Boys, scoring four times with one assist.

Future Outlook: Another 20-year-old, Connolly has outgrown the Under-23 side and needs to continue playing. A loan spell with a rising Championship side (or a smaller Premier League team) could be in his future.

Season Grade: B

Brendan Galloway

Performance: How far has Galloway fallen - from a possible starting spot under Roberto Martinez to not even in Sunderland’s squad. Made just eleven appearances this season, and was poor in just about every one of them.

Future Outlook: Still has two years to run on his current Everton deal, but will likely be sold off to a lower league team this summer that is looking to take a chance on him.

Season Grade: D

Joe Williams

Performance: Everton appear to have no shortage of central defensive midfielders, and 21-year-old Williams adds to the glut. He was a revelation at Barnsley this season, with his grit and tenaciousness winning him a lot of fans in the Championship. Played in 39 games before a late season injury cut short his campaign.

Future Outlook: Between Beni Baningime and Williams, Everton should be all set for the future as far as midfield pivots go. Needs to keep playing though, and a loan to a Premier League side where he can start a dozen or so games would be ideal for his development.

Season Grade: B+

Harry Charsley

Performance: The central midfielder was sent out on loan in January to gain some experience with the injury-stricken Trotters, but ended up playing just the once. Had 16 games in all for the Under-23s, along with one out-of-position appearance at left back for the dead rubber Europa League game at Apollon Limassol.

Future Outlook: Still needs to work on what his unique selling point is, and will need to play lot more to develop his talents. Expect the Wirral-born youngster to get another Championship loan, but one where he will get more games at.

Season Grade: Incomplete

Boris Mathis

Performance: An unheralded pickup late in last summer’s transfer window, and didn’t show much in the five games with Northampton Town in League One either.

Future Outlook: Still young, on the books for another year, will need more gametime before a decision can be made.

Season Grade: Incomplete

Louis Gray

Performance: The goalkeeper played in seven games for the Under-23s in the first half of the season before riding the bench for the rest of the season at League Two Carlisle United.

Future Outlook: Gray is still only 22 and will likely be in David Unsworth’s Under-23 squad next season.

Season Grade: Incomplete

Sam Byrne

Performance: The former Manchester United youth system product has had multiple chances to reboot his career but has failed to make an impression. Sent out to Dundalk FC in the League of Ireland during the winter, he has only made two substitute appearances.

Future Outlook: There is no future for the forward at Everton with his current deal expiring this summer. Will likely make the switch to Ireland where he was born.

Season Grade: Incomplete