Report: Markelo to be offered new deal

Sunday, 17 May, 2020 29comments  |  Jump to most recent

Nathangelo Markelo will reportedly be offered new terms by Everton when his contract expires this summer but Morgan Feeney, Matty Foulds, Manassé Mampala and Alex Denny are set to be released.

The Liverpool Echo claim that Markelo will get the chance to accept an extended contract by the club with a view to being sent out on loan to get valuable experience next season.

The report says that Everton hope to arrange a season-long loan in the Netherlands for the Dutch youth international if an extension to his existing three-year deal is agreed.

Four of his Under-23s team-mates' time with the Toffees will come to an end at the end of the season according to the same report, however. Feeney, who has already made his senior debut and captained the U23s to the Premier League 2 title, is unlikely to be offered a new contract.

The same goes for Foulds who was signed from Bury in 2015 and Denny who, like Feeney, is a Finch Farm academy graduate who made one first-team appearance in the Europa League in 2017-18.

Foulds confirmed the news on social media yesterday, tweeting his farewell to the club, saying: "After 4 seasons at Everton, I will be leaving the club at the end of the season, achieving 2 league titles and a cup during my time at the Blues. I'm leaving with nothing but good memories, I've worked with some great lads and staff over the seasons and made some friends for life.

"I wish everyone at the club all the best and I'm looking forward to a new chapter in the new season."

Mampala, the Congolese striker who has also been an important member of David Unsworth's development side, is also unlikely to be retained but there is an option to extend Con Ouzounidis's contract that could be exercised.

 

Reader Comments (29)

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Bill Gienapp
1 Posted 17/05/2020 at 20:40:44
Feeney's fall was certainly swift. As recently as the start of this season, it seemed as if he might have a bright future with the club... but now that he appears to have fallen behind Gibson and Branthwaite in the pecking order, the odds were stacked too high against him.
Dave Abrahams
2 Posted 17/05/2020 at 20:48:39
Always a very sad time when young lads and young men are told they will not be retained. I doubt if there is an easy way to tell them nor an easy way to accept it. I have seen quite a bit of Feeney and Foulds and don't think they will have much problem getting fixed up in lower leagues and will have good futures in the game.

I haven't seen much of the other two lads but wish them well and hope they get other chances in the game. Unfortunately, for all four of them and many players, from top to bottom, clubs will be assessing all future contracts and I think the golden financial years will be a thing of the past.

Robert Tressell
3 Posted 17/05/2020 at 20:48:49
Does anyone know much about Kieran Phillips? His contract is due to expire in June too. Seems to have a superb goalscoring record but lots of injuries.

Staggering that Pennington, Broadhead, Connolly and Dowell will still be on the books for another season despite being miles from the first team and spring chickens no more. And Bowler and Hornby will return from particularly amazing looking loan experiences.

No offence to these lads but they just shouldn't be on the books of an ambitious Premier League side.

Harry Williams
4 Posted 17/05/2020 at 21:05:02
Markelo is not good enough, he will never be a player who plays in the Premier League, never!! Everton continue to hand contracts out to poor players, but sure enough he will look good at U23s level.
Kevin Prytherch
5 Posted 17/05/2020 at 21:28:05
Robert 3 - in all fairness to Hornby, he's gone to a foreign country in a top flight league. Granted he's only played 11 times, but he's scored 4 goals.

I think it's worth loaning him again as a lot of strikers don't mature until 21 or 22-ish.

I agree with Pennington and, despite Broadhead being player of the year for U23-s, I never felt he had it in him for top flight. I think that Connolly and Dowell were badly mismanaged by Silva. Unfortunately their time at the club should come to an end. However, they should have been given a decent chance a couple of years ago. If they were given the chance, they could be decent squad players now.

Robert Tressell
6 Posted 17/05/2020 at 21:51:20
I hope so Kevin. Whatever the case, these players should all make a good living from the ability they have. Probably at a club like Blackburn or Preston. One or two might, through hard work, end up back in the Premier League, like Duffy and Lundstram. But I doubt any will ever make it with Everton.
Graeme Beresford
7 Posted 17/05/2020 at 22:46:27
Never see the point in sending young players out in loan to foreign countries where football is most probably played at a poor level.

Surly if we are preparing players to play in the Premier League, you are better sending players to the lower leagues here. Teams like Fleetwood, Blackpool, Wigan, etc etc. Not even necessarily local teams but still, get them prepared to play in the Premier League.

Rob Young
8 Posted 17/05/2020 at 23:15:30
Completely agree with you, Graeme.

Why send a Dutch lad out on loan to his home country? He must have played there for most of his life already!

If we think he can ever make it at Everton or in the UK, where we'd get a higher transfer fee anyway, then does he not need all the English football he can get??

Alan J Thompson
9 Posted 18/05/2020 at 06:23:43
If you assume there is something more to a loan than getting experience at a more competitive level, then sending teenagers home for a year might do them a world of good. Sending young British players on loan to the Continent seems to make less sense unless, again, it is for something more than a solely footballing reason. Kenny may be an exception as he is playing under a Manager who has Premier League experience.

I'd have thought that Everton might have had some idea of young players' potential well before his contract expires and may have looked to find him a club for a small fee or for some part of any future transfer which I think used to be the practice in years gone by.

I'm fairly sure that a lot of Australian teams would be interested in Ouzounides given his nationality and the level of their A-League.

Robert Tressell
10 Posted 18/05/2020 at 07:41:04
Some players will certainly benefit from a stint in the lower leagues. It will toughen them up and give them valuable practice. But some of our British youngsters would learn more in say the Dutch league. If you're tough already (like Feeney) then it may be more if an education to play very tactical / technical football.

If you've got the silky skills (like Dowell) then you need people on the right wavelength to receive your passes (one touch, played at speed, in tight spaces). More likely to find that type of set up in the Eredivisie than at Fleetwood.

Also, it just helps you grow up a bit to get out of your comfort zone like that. Personally I think we need close tie-ups with clubs home and abroad to make sure the loan system is a route to the first team.

Sam Hoare
11 Posted 18/05/2020 at 09:38:41
I think it looks like the academy is belatedly moving in the right direction. Winning titles and cups at U23 level is nice but matters little compared to producing players to help the first team or be sold at profit.

We have held onto too many players for too long and the average age of our U23 team has been significantly older than most of their top level counterparts for a few seasons now.

Much better to give more opportunities to the brightest U18 talents. If players are not beginning to show serious promise by the age of 18/19 then the odds would suggest they may not be cut out for the highest levels. Of course there will always be late developers but you cannot base the whole developmental system on that hope.

Next year we will have a much younger team with the likes of Onyango, Warrington and Rhys Hughes in midfield.

Ideally players get a year or two under the U23 coach to develop aged 17-19 and then are ready for some proper first team time on loan aged 19-20. Or if they are really good to be fast-tracked straight into the first team; like Anthony Gordon hopefully.

I think we are seeing Brands influence on the academy much more now and that will increase in the future. I'm hopeful we will have some more players capable of contributing at first team level in another year or two.

Michael Kenrick
13 Posted 18/05/2020 at 10:17:32
Average age of U23 squads in PL2 (Season 2019-20):
       
Club Squad Average Foreign
Brighton & Hove Albion U23 16 21 7
Newcastle United U23 21 20.9 8
Leicester City U23 19 20.7 10
Blackburn Rovers U23 15 20.6 5
Derby County U23 16 20.6 3
Stoke City U23 19 20.6 13
Sunderland AFC U23 16 20.4 5
West Ham United U23 14 20.4 5
Southampton FC U23 18 20.3 7
Reading FC U23 19 20.2 5
Swansea City U23 17 20.2 7
Middlesbrough FC U23 18 20.1 1
Manchester United U23 19 20 8
Norwich City U23 20 20 9
Everton FC U23 18 19.9 8
Fulham FC U23 15 19.9 5
Liverpool FC U23 24 19.9 14
West Bromwich Albion U23 23 19.8 4
Arsenal FC U23 14 19.7 4
Aston Villa U23 17 19.7 6
Manchester City U23 21 19.7 11
Wolverhampton Wanderers U23 14 19.7 13
Tottenham Hotspur U23 16 19.5 6
Chelsea FC U23 13 19.4 7
Sorry, Sam (and others, because I see this 'claim' posted quite often). I'm just not buying it.
Tony Everan
14 Posted 18/05/2020 at 11:54:08
The very best of luck to the young lads released. I hope they remain positive and do well for another team in one of the lower leagues maybe. As the lads have proved in the U23s they have got the talent to make a successful career if they are dedicated. All the best.
Sam Hoare
15 Posted 18/05/2020 at 17:22:29
Michael, where is that info from?

This table has us at 17th oldest out of 24. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/u21-premier-league/altersschnitt/wettbewerb/GB21

Certainly in the matches that I watched we tended to have older starting XIs. This improved a bit this season (under the orders of Brands) but was even more pronounced last season. As borne out by us having the third oldest squad in the league 18-19: https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league-2/altersschnitt/wettbewerb/GB21/plus/?saison_id=2018

Harry Williams
16 Posted 18/05/2020 at 20:14:10
This season, the U23 players have been younger and hence why their performance has been poor, the previous years when they won the title they were much older, FACT!!

They hold on to players for far too long, the priority is to win and not to develop.

Martin Berry
17 Posted 18/05/2020 at 21:22:56
Good luck to these young men who wore the Everton shirt, I hope they have successful career elsewhere.

It just goes to show how hard it is to break into the first team from the youth ranks, for every ten that you think make it, maybe only one or two come through.

The more we can get out on loan, preferably in the UK the better as these lads need competitive football in the league of hard knocks.

Kevin Prytherch
18 Posted 18/05/2020 at 21:24:51
Harry - just because you write FACT in capital letters, doesn't necessarily mean it is actually a fact

I've not researched this first so let's take the average ages of the 11 players to play the most in the last 4 years (2 league wins in there...) and the average squad age (anyone who has featured)...

Year. - 1st XI. - Squad
16/17 - 18.36 No data (champions)
17/18 - 18.63 No data
18/19 - 19.91 - 19.4 (champions)
19/20 - 19.81 19.9

There you have it. When we first won the title we did it with the youngest first XI from the last 4 years, the second was with the oldest.

Don't know whether this supports your FACTS or not, but the average age has not got as high as 20, while the poor performance this year has been with a squad considerably older than previous champions - which is still not old (see Michael's post).

Harry Williams
19 Posted 18/05/2020 at 22:58:12
2018-19 Everton U23s were the fourth oldest team in Premier League 2, even Niasse worth £13mil was parachuted in amongst others.

Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea etc teams are full of younger players, why, because they are developers, there was only one other team in this league were playing older players similar to ours.

Who have we produced? Tom Davies, now playing for our first team.

We are poor developers. Fact!!

Kieran Kinsella
20 Posted 18/05/2020 at 23:39:30
Squad age means little, it's more about the starting 11. This year was better but I pulled stats on here a year ago showing our average versus those of successful clubs – those that produce good young players. eg RS, Chelsea and Man City. It's no good winning with wannabees aged 19/20 when the idea is to produce top players. I'd rather have the RS youngsters than our “two-time champion” what conference level players?
Harry Williams
21 Posted 18/05/2020 at 23:40:05
U23s could re-sign Garbutt and Feeny like they did with Charsley and Baxter add Pennington, Dowell, Connolly etc that would be great development for all those young players.
Alan J Thompson
22 Posted 19/05/2020 at 08:06:51
Gentlemen, Please remember that when talking averages there are those above that line and some below. That is, if you take two players they are either the same age, shall we say 19.9 years, or one is 17.7 and the other 22.1 years old. Is it any guide to their playing ability or for that matter the Coaches judgement?
Sam Hoare
23 Posted 19/05/2020 at 08:32:31
Kevin @18, where do you get that data from? Seems like there are some discrepancies between data sources to me.
Robert Tressell
24 Posted 19/05/2020 at 09:57:09
I think older players have traditionally been retained in our Under-23s (Pennington, Garbutt etc) because traditionally we have been skint. It was probably cheaper to retain these players than buy in reserve players like Martina (wages, agents fees etc).

Some low-cost sentimentality re Baxter and Charsley for different reasons but I think the club was desperate (financially) for the likes of Garbutt, Browning, Galloway and Pennington to become first-teamers or reliable subs.

We're in a different position now, thankfully, and the youth system can – with help from Brands – adapt accordingly. Looks like the age 17-ish group has some promise too.

John Dean
25 Posted 19/05/2020 at 12:29:20
If I was a young lad and several clubs wanted my signature, am I likely to pick the club that throws out almost all players as not being good enough at 18?

If I did sign for such a club, would I improve more quickly at age 18 playing for the U23s with a team of 16- and 17-year-olds, most of whom are just making up the numbers? Statistics say very very few make it to the top grade and I might be the only one from my year to get that far. Or would more experienced players help me improve quicker?

Perhaps we will just sign only those youngsters guaranteed to make the grade.

Sam Hoare
26 Posted 20/05/2020 at 07:22:33
John, I'd say if you were a young player you'd do well to be getting as close to the first team as possible (ie the U23s) around 16-18 and then getting some time to play first-team football on loan 18-20.

You'll learn far more from a good loan than you will from the ‘experienced players' in the U23s. No disrespect to the likes of Charsley, Pennington etc.

I think the thing that will hopefully make us attractive to the good young players is if the first team is using more of those academy players. But it's Catch-22 as you can't use them if they're not good enough!

John Dean
27 Posted 20/05/2020 at 08:05:53
It's a plan, Sam. But if you sold it to me, maybe I'd think: "Why am I signing for this club who will have to loan me out to get to first-team standard?"

I might as well pick a lower-level team of my choice now. Or, more likely, another Premier League team with a good U23 set up.

Derek Taylor
28 Posted 21/05/2020 at 20:08:26
It's difficult to believe that some jobsworth would actually choose to bring the likes of Martina and Niasse to Goodison rather than put an ounce of faith in a couple of our own 'home-reared' youngsters.

Scrapping the ressies resulted in the kids never getting the experience of playing with and against adults, which means that the handful who ever got 'a few minutes' in the Premier League were usually lambs to the slaughter.

Regretably, clubs will have learned nothing from the current crisis and the same nonsense will repeat itself but this time with players being able to nominate which games they play on health grounds.

It's all a bloody farce!

Kevin Prytherch
29 Posted 21/05/2020 at 20:15:00
Sam 23 - I did look at Transfermarkt initially, but wondered where they got their first XI data from.

So I went to ToffeeWeb and made a note of the 11 players who played the most games in each year, then averaged their ages at the time.

Robert Tressell
30 Posted 21/05/2020 at 20:30:36
John, the primary answer is money. Premier League clubs (including us) have wrecked lots of very promising careers by offering better wages and a shot at the big time. The system isn't a good one.

It can work with very effective use of loans and feeder clubs (eg, Chelsea and Vitesse Arnhem) and even buy-back clauses – and developing a structured route to the first team.

But you're right, if you want a successful career, you'd probably be better picking a club that offers you some first-team football and a good footballing education too (like Crewe used to do, for example).


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