Everton’s academy has been famed over the years, not only for its production of top talent, but for the club’s philosophy for then promoting them.
A pathway into the first team has always been their ethos, but recent relegation troubles have somewhat scuppered that philosophy.
Now, with Everton manager Sean Dyche having somewhat restored stability, hopefully they can recapture that youth-focused plan.
If so, there’s one teenage sensation surely destined for greatness in royal blue.
Everton youngster Braiden Graham praised
As they do with each new year, The Guardian have once again released yet another Next Generation list, where they seek to detail each Premier League club’s best young talent.
In the past, some truly exceptional talent has been identified, and they often seek to outline one of the academy’s lesser-known starlets, rather than one on the brink of a first-team call-up.
For Everton, they went with Northern Irishman Braiden Graham, writing: ‘The prolific striker signed this summer from Linfield, where he made history as the youngest player to appear for the first team aged 15 years and 137 days. He also scored a crucial equaliser in the quarter-finals of the League Cup as David Healy’s team went on to retain the trophy.’
They then went on to quote Healy, writing: ‘He’s brave and he’s ‘goals, goals, goals’, he prowls in and around and he’s a deadly finisher.’
How good is Everton talent Braiden Graham?
Braiden Graham joined Everton this year, but reports suggested a deal had been struck well before the actual move was ratified.
After all, the Toffees did not want to wait around to snag this teenage sensation, even at just 15 years old.
We at Everton.News then sought to add to the limited information about the young marksman by speaking to Steven Beacom, the chief sports writer at the Belfast Telegraph.
He described Braiden Graham’s best moment in his career at that time, claiming: ‘Linfield were playing Larne in the quarter-finals of the competition and after losing 4-0 to their fiercest rivals Glentoran needed to bounce back.
‘Against the Champions Larne they trailed 2-1 in the final seconds of extra time and were a man down and then up stepped Graham on as a substitute.
‘In the heat of battle the kid was as cool as ice finishing superbly inside the box to send the game to penalties and he wasn’t finished there.
‘Graham wanted to take a spot-kick and when his time came he kept his nerve to score. It proved crucial as Linfield went on to win the shoot-out.’
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