Young Irish striker joins Everton U21s

, 18 July, 16comments  |  Jump to most recent

Everton have picked up striker Sam Byrne who was released by Manchester United this summer, with Roberto Martinez drafting him initially into the Blues' Under-21s side.

The 18-year-old, was tipped to make the breakthrough at Old Trafford following an impressive goals haul at U19 level but failed to make a senior appearance for United.

A Republic of Ireland Under-19 international who has seven goals in 10 appearances for his country at that level, Byrne spent time on loan at Carlisle United last season where he scored once in 13 appearances but was not offered a new contract on his return to Manchester.

Ireland U19 manager Paul Doolin spoke about the striker after the recent 2-1 win over Turkey saying, “Sam has a great record for the U19s, scoring 10 goals over the last two seasons. Most of those were from last season when he was giving away a year”

Byrne joins seven players from Everton's Academy in signing professional contracts with the club and gets an opportunity to prove he can make the grade in the Premier League by Martinez.

 

Reader Comments (16)

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Minik Hansen
1 Posted 18/07/2014 at 14:36:35
Some Carlisle fans aren't impressed (Link), but he will have something to prove to his former club, so he might step it up here at Everton. Welcome Sam Byrne, enjoy our club, have a good start and good luck!
Si Cooper
2 Posted 18/07/2014 at 14:33:46
Anyone know what his strengths / attributes are?
Derek Knox
3 Posted 18/07/2014 at 14:47:48
That's interesting Minik, having read your link, from the Carlisle perspective, he doesn't seemed to have left a great impression!

On the other hand, I assume that Roberto has had some involvement with his acquisition, so presumably he must have spotted something.

Being optimistic, as most of us blues are, he may be a late developer, or one of those players who blossom later than his peers.

There have been a few down the years, who have been released for free and then suddenly become unpolished gems...

Again, my optimism is running away with me!

Mark Pendleton
5 Posted 18/07/2014 at 14:45:13
"Impressed" scoring once in 13 games for a League One side? Hmmm...
Derek Knox
6 Posted 18/07/2014 at 15:55:57
Mark #5

I bet his Mum loves him though!

Steve Morley
8 Posted 18/07/2014 at 16:18:28
Barkley looked pants when he played for Leeds and Wednesday... I saw it myself. Sometimes quality players struggle with the physicality of the lower leagues. The headless chicken football doesn't help much either.
Norman Merrill
9 Posted 18/07/2014 at 17:14:49
I'm sure Roberto will be a well aware of the lad, so I'll go along with his judgement.
Wayne Smyth
10 Posted 18/07/2014 at 18:32:26
Sometimes a change is good. Especially if you're getting told you're not good enough.

A fresh club and a new manager who believes in developing young players - rather than spending £100M+ on an array of expensive foreign talent - could be just what he needs.

Bob Hannigan
11 Posted 18/07/2014 at 18:39:09
Who knows, can't go too far wrong on a "free transfer". Might fit well here with our strong Irish contingent.
Geoffrey Caveney
12 Posted 18/07/2014 at 20:20:10
Man Utd loaned the lad to a bad League One side heading for League Two. Gee, I wonder what quality of support the striker was getting from his teammates there?

Surprise surprise, he wasn't able to single-handedly rescue a bad team. But Man Utd gave up on him. Signings like Byrne are one way Roberto can get the better of the richer clubs. I like it.

Derek Knox
13 Posted 18/07/2014 at 21:26:10
GC #12

There is probably (hopefully) a lot of what you say is what actually transpired!

However it brought to mind another Man Utd Striker loaned out, I am referring to Nick Powell who each time I saw him for Wigan (are you listening Phil Walling?) looked to be an even better prospect!

Only time will tell !

Ant Dwyer
14 Posted 19/07/2014 at 02:22:56
Hopefully this lad needs to be at a higher level than Carlisle to play to his potential. Might be a slight grasp at straws but Ross Barkley wasn't too great at Leeds!

Another young lad that Roberto is giving a chance too... Good luck!

Chris James
15 Posted 19/07/2014 at 08:34:02
Every player has to start somewhere and the policy of bringing in crops of youngsters that Martinez fancies to try and bring through seems a smart way for us to compete.

Hopefully we'll give a lot of the youth a chance, if we can establish the reputation as a club that gives youth it's chance in the first team and a fair crack at the big time (Coleman, Barkley and Stones are a good basis) then it can only help us in the future.

When going to young prospects, we can genuinely say "Do you want a chance at a top 6 team or would you rather rot on the bench as a token quota-filling squad member at Chelski or City?"

Mike Allison
16 Posted 19/07/2014 at 08:47:38
I don’t have an opinion on Sam Byrne himself, I’ve never seen him play, but I like the policy that this represents. Most of the richest clubs invest heavily in their youth system, and are really looking for that one out-and-out gem, whilst the rest will be discarded.

Martinez has stated before that he thinks English football in general doesn’t develop players well in the 18-21 stage. Most clubs seem to have made a decision by 18, when in fact (according to Martinez) the next three years are vital. If we can take cast-offs and give them that development that other clubs don’t seem able to, then we’re going to find some good players, as well as generate a little bit of income selling off the ones we don’t want to the lower league clubs we’ve loaned them to as part of their development.

There is also that element of having ’failed’ once and having something to prove. If Man Utd let you go, so be it, it happens to a lot of young players, but if you got a second chance at a top club like Everton and still didn’t make it that time, then you’ve ’failed’ twice, and your reputation has taken a hit.

Man City have already let some very good youngsters go, Kieran Trippier at Burnley is probably the highest profile example, and there will be the odd player here and there every year that we can probably do something with.

And by the way, he played 13 times for Carlisle, mostly as a sub, at the age of 18. I wouldn’t read anything at all into that, let alone not very much.

Paul Andrews
17 Posted 19/07/2014 at 09:05:08
Mike,

Some very good points there. Like Chris mentions in the post above you, we won't have the massive budgets of the money clubs.

What Martinez is doing is obvious. He is looking 2 years down the line by bringing a young squad together, and allowing them to develop, while instilling a team spirit in them. At the same time, he has experience around them to guide.

Go through the young players and imagine what power, football ability and 2 years experience playing together with the starting 11 could be like in 2 years.

Mark Andersson
18 Posted 19/07/2014 at 10:08:12
Nice positive posts, it’s good to see that most fans are looking at the bigger picture and the vision of our manager. While the Redshite spend millions on over-valued players, I have a feeling that the Everton Way is the right way for long term stability.

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