Kevin Thelwell admits he found two January decisions he made at Everton really ‘difficult’

Add as preferred source on Google

In the end, January was a fairly quiet month for Everton.

There had been plenty of talk about how it was going to be really busy following the takeover by The Friedkin Group in December.

And then David Moyes replaced Sean Dyche at the start of January, which again suggested there would be lots of activity.

But ultimately, Everton still had to be mindful of PSR. And Moyes also didn’t want to add players who wouldn’t necessarily improve the squad.

In the end, Everton only signed Carlos Alcaraz.

But there were a few outgoings, with a few young players departing.

Harrison Armstrong joined Derby County on loan for the rest of the season.

And there were two young players who left the club permanently – and Kevin Thelwell admits the decisions to let them go were difficult.

Kevin Thelwell admits struggle over decisions to let Stanley Mills and Charlie Whitaker leave Everton

Everton have tonight released a short interview with director of football Kevin Thelwell.

He touches on a number of subjects, including how the summer could look at Everton.

He also speaks about the transfer window just gone, admitting that it was a hard one to operate in due to PSR.

Thelwell admits that he was somewhat troubled by the decisions to leave Stanley Mills and Charlie Whitaker leave the club.

He said: “Difficult, Stan Mills, You never want to lose good players. But I think he felt and we felt it was probably the right time to almost start his career at another football club. We’re delighted he’s got an opportunity at a good club, Oxford United. We’ll monitor his progress and we hope he goes on to do great things there.”

“(On Whitaker) Very much so (an opportunity to start his career elsewhere). Him and Stan – I’ve had a difficult time, because they’ve been stop-start in so many ways because of injuries. But they are almost young senior players now if that makes sense.

“They’re ready to go and play senior football. They’re capable of playing mens’ senior football.”

Before leaving Everton, Mills had only recently returned to match action after a year out following an awful knee injury he suffered while on loan at Oxford, the club he’s just rejoined.

In the same interview, Thelwell also admitted his delighted over Alcaraz and Armstrong deals.

Whitaker branded ‘absolutely incredible’ after Everton exit

It’s intriguing to hear the reasons for Mills and Whitaker leaving Everton.

Ultimately, both of them are simply at the stage where they are ready to play senior football, and Everton were ultimately happy to let them go.

Although it does very much sound as though Thewell struggled to sign off on the decision to let both leave permanently.

Notts County manager Stuart Maynard branded Whitaker ‘absolutely incredible’ following his goal and performance in the 2-0 win over Morecambe United.

So it sounds like he’s getting on well so far, and hopefully, Thelwell and Everton’s decision on these two young talents won’t come back to haunt them.