One of Everton’s star young teen prodigies has ‘deregistered’ himself from the Academy and appears set to make the switch to Liverpool.
Everton’s 14-year-old attacking midfielder and winger, Josh Chigwada, has been with Everton Academy since… and is considered one of Finch Farm’s most highly-rated prospects. He stepped up to the U18s for a single sub appearance at the end of last season — a rare feat for someone his age. He is also an England U15 international.
At the age of 14 years, 8 months, and 1 day, he made his U18s debut against Sunderland and that makes him the second-youngest debutant in the team’s history after Francis Broggan. But it does not seem to have been enough to convince him that there is a reasonable pathway for such a prodigious talent to make fast enough progress through the ranks at Everton.
This week, the news has broken that he has ‘deregistered’ from Everton to become a free agent, with every indication that he could be snapped up by Liverpool’s academy. Wherever he goes, his new club will be required to pay a modest development fee to cover his time with The Toffees, but this will count as nothing against the terrible record Everton’s Academy has for losing young players to the competition.