Back in the summer of 2017, five Everton youngsters helped England’s under-20s win the World Youth Cup.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was one of the five players in question. He scored the winning goal in the final and has since gone on to establish himself as a Premier League regular. Jonjoe Kenny is also in the Everton first-team picture whilst both Ademola Lookman and Kieran Dowell both left the club in hope of regular first-team football elsewhere.
The fifth youngster is also still an Everton player, but his career at Goodison Park has not taken off since.
Callum Connolly is largely a forgotten name at Finch Farm. The 23-year-old utility player seemed a potential Everton first-team option back in 2017. Capable across the midfield or defence a quality season on loan at Ipswich Town followed. With that in mind, Everton handed Connolly a new deal, lasting until 2021. The hope was Connolly might become a solid member of the Everton first-team.
However, loan spells have since followed at Wigan, Bolton, Lincoln City and now Fleetwood Town with varying degrees of success.
Connolly has not managed to make any strides toward the Everton first-team and it seems he will become the third of Everton’s world-conquering five to leave come the end of the current season.
With Kenny now struggling to find a place in Carlo Ancelotti’s plans, even amid a full-back shortage, it might be only a matter of time before Calvert-Lewin is the last of these heralded Young Lions still standing.