James Garner has spoken out about the difficulties he faced in adjusting to life at Everton.
Everton paid £15 million to prise James Garner away from Manchester United in the summer of 2022.
However, the 22-year-old struggled to establish himself at Everton in his first season at Goodison Park. Injuries played a part in slowing his integration down, but Garner wasn’t able to make himself a regular starter until towards the end of the campaign.
The midfielder has been a key figure under Sean Dyche so far this season, though. The manager has made use of Garner’s useful versatility and has often deployed him on the right-flank.
Garner now looks comfortable at Everton and will be hoping to kick on this season. He has the potential to be a star for the Toffees if he can stay fit and continue to develop as a player.
James Garner says Everton are on the up
Garner has now discussed the challenge he faced in adapting to life at the Merseyside club. As quoted by The Mirror, the England under-21 international said joining the Toffees was “a massive culture shock in a way. Ever since I was six or seven when I’ve been playing football, always at a club and a team with [Manchester] United that’s been winning.”
Discussing his decision to join Everton, Garner sys his “mindset was clear, to go and play games, and try to change the pattern of the last few years, and hopefully turn the team around…I feel like we are only going in the right direction now.”
Everton have been a struggling side in recent seasons, and were lucky to avoid relegation last time out. Only a win on the last day of the Premier League campaign saved them from losing their top flight status.
Things got off to a difficult start again this time around. However, Everton were unlucky to lose a couple of matches in which they produced decent performances. The Toffees finally got their first Premier League win against Brentford last time out and will now be aiming to build on that result.
Garner will be hoping to play a key role in helping Everton climb the Premier League table in the coming weeks.
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