Everton Out-On-Loan Players Season Review [Part 1: Deadwood]

Everton had no less than 21 players out-on-loan this season and while some of them are young prospects that may have a future at the club, the hard truth is that some of them are simply clogging up the wage bill and the club could do with getting rid of them any way they can.

Unfortunately, as part of Marco Silva and Marcel Brands clear out last summer, several players could only be moved out on temporary deals.

In part one of this season loan review, I’ll take a look at how the “deadwood” got on.

The Deadwood

Ashley Williams – Stoke City

Had a miserable second season at Everton and really needed to leave the club. With his Everton contract expiring this summer, his season-long loan switch Stoke effectively ended his Goodison career.

He’s had a mixed campaign and was in and out of the team for the latter stages of the season.

His Everton contract expires this summer.

Minutes: 2952, Apps: 31(6), Goals: 1, Assists: 1, MOTM: 1

Cuco Martina – Stoke City / Feyenoord

Urgh. Still don’t understand why Everton signed someone who’d just been released by Southampton on a three-year deal.

Went to Stoke, played a bit, didn’t do great. Then went to Feyenoord in January, played a bit, didn’t do great.

Apparently, Feyenoord have no interest in signing him permanently, so Everton will need to find him another home again this summer.

His Everton contract runs until 30.6.2020.

[Stoke] Minutes: 1599, Apps: 17(0), Goals: 0, Assists: 0, MOTM: 0

[Feyenoord] Minutes: 1008, Apps: 12(0), Goals: 0, Assists: 0, MOTM: 0

Luke Garbutt – Oxford United

Looked like Leighton Baines’ heir at one point at Goodison Park but fell completely out of favour after signing a bumper contract under Roberto Martinez.

The 25-year-old left-back had to make do with a loan move to Oxford United in the summer, but the awful positioning in some of his early performances showed exactly why he’s not had a sniff at Goodison in recent years and was in and out of the U’s team like a yo-yo.

Improved towards the end of the season and chip in with some assists and goals, including some eye-catching free-kicks.

His Everton contract runs until 30.6.2020.

Minutes: 2427, Apps: 28(8), Goals: 4, Assists: 8

Shani Tarashaj - Grasshopper

Roberto Martinez’s last signing at Everton was supposed to be a coup. Unfortunately, he’s never played a minute of competitive action for the first team.

After staying at Grasshopper to complete his national service, Tarashaj wasn’t fancied by new manager Ronald Koeman when he arrived at Finch Farm and was shipped out to Eintracht Frankfurt. He started okay, but his season was blighted by injuries. Following a year on the sidelines of under-23s last season, Tarashaj returned to his old club for the 2018/19 season with the hopes of reviving his career.

It didn’t go to plan. The five-time Swiss international, now 24, hasn’t started a single league game as his side finished bottom of the Super League and were relegated, with two games still left to play.

His Everton contract runs until 30.6.2020.

Minutes: 400, Apps: 0(8), Goals: 1, Assists: 0

Kevin Mirallas - Fiorentina

Surprisingly awarded a new four-year-contract not so long ago, Mirallas was shipped out on loan to Fiorentina where he has, as always, struggled to find any consistency and was mostly used from the bench.

Fiorentina have shown little interest in exercising their £7 million buy-option in his deal, so Everton still need to find the 31-year-old another club in the summer.

His Everton contract runs until 30.6.2020.

Minutes: 1527, Apps: 18(12), Goals: 2, Assists: 3, MOTM: 0

Mo Besic - Middlesbrough

After impressing on his first loan spell at the Riverside, Mo hasn’t hit the same heights on his return, turning in some erratic performances.

Struggled to hold down a first team place after the arrival of Jon Obi Mikel in January, with Boro narrowly missing out on a play-off position on the final day.

Still got more than two years left on his contract, though, so the Blues will have to try and ship out the 26-year-old once again.

His Everton contract runs until 30.6.2021.

Minutes: 2379, Apps: 32(7), Goals: 2, Assists: 5, MOTM: 2

Yannick Bolasie – Aston Villa / Anderlecht

Bolasie got a deadline day move to Aston Villa and was proving to be quite the super sub at Villa Park until the £75,000 per week man decided to recall himself to Everton and fight for his place.

Marco Silva told him he wasn’t wanted, though, and he managed to squeeze through a January move to Anderlecht.

He’s performed well at Anderlecht, but unfortunately the standard of the Jupiler League leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, like most sides, Anderlecht simply can’t afford him.

Newcastle have been persistently linked with a move for him and he’s certainly still capable of performing at Premier League level, so hopefully they can loosen Mike Ashley’s incredibly tight purse strings and bring him in for next season and take him off Everton’s wage bill.

His Everton contract runs until 30.6.2021.

[Aston Villa] Minutes: 953, Apps: 9(12), Goals: 2, Assists: 5, MOTM: 0

[Anderlecht] Minutes: 1418, Apps: 10(0), Goals: 4, Assists: 1

Sandro Ramirez – Real Sociedad

Ahh, Sandro Ramirez.

Like Yannick Bolasie, the lad is on an absolute wedge at Goodison Park (believed to be £120,000 per week), meaning it is difficult to find a club that will stump up those wages on loan, let alone sanction a permanent deal.

Last season was pretty disastrous for Sandro. Despite a decent amount of playing time, he didn’t score a single goal or contribute an assist. Meaning the striker hasn’t scored for two consecutive seasons in the league. His last league goal came for Malaga in May 2017, 47 appearances ago.

He’s worked hard for mid-table Real Sociedad but has had no impact where it matters most.

Another loan move to Spain almost certainly awaits the 23-year-old in the summer.

His Everton contract runs until 30.6.2021.

Minutes: 1241, Apps: 11(15), Goals: 0, Assists: 0, MOTM: 0

Oumar Niasse – Cardiff City

Like Sandro, Oumar has run a lot for Cardiff but essentially contributed nothing as the Bluebirds slipped to relegation from the Premier League.

After making his loan move in January,

Hard to see Oumar featuring for Everton again. Either another loan or a permanent move awaits him this summer.

His Everton contract runs until 30.6.2020.

Minutes: 940, Apps: 12(1), Goals: 0, Assists: 0, MOTM: 0

Matthew Pennington – Ipswich Town

For the weekly loan recaps this season, I kept Pennington on the ‘Youngsters’ list. However, at 24, that was probably an oversight.

Only an absolutely outstanding season at Ipswich would have been likely to see Pennington get a real shot at first-team action at Goodison Park, but with the Tractor Boys finishing rock-bottom of the Championship, it’s hard to say that was the case.

Pennington missed the end of the season with an ankle injury, but he was a key first team player for Ipswich over the course of the season, proving to be one of the better performers as he held down a centre-back berth (as well as featuring at right-back on a few occasions).

The lad seems to have a great attitude and was linked with a move to Derby in January, so he certainly seems likely to have a decent career ahead of him. Sadly, though, he’s just not up to Everton standard right now and needs to find a permanent home to continue his growth.

His Everton contract runs until 30.6.2021.

Minutes: 2788, Apps: 31(0), Goals: 1, Assists: 0, MOTM: 0

COMING SOON: Season Loan Review – Part 2 [The Prospects]