Everton’s Jarrad Brathwaite has received his first England call-up and might make his international debut against Brazil later evening.
The 21-year-old’s participation in Gareth Southgate’s squad marks a fantastic ascent for a man who arrived at Goodson Park as a teenager in January 2020 after just nine outings in League Two for his home city club Carlisle United.
Everton owner Farhad Moshiri made the admission of “we have not always spent large amounts of money wisely” when he apologized to Blues fans in 2022, while the club is now prepared for the hearing of a second PSR accusation this seasons next week.
However, among all of the extravagant outlays, which Everton signing of the current regime offers the most value for money? Members of the ECHO sportsdesk have their say…
Chris Beesley – He has gone from unpolished diamond to polished Premier League gem
Dominic Calvert-Lewin could do with a timely pick-me-up but I’m not being generous to give him this title. His current 22-game goalless skid must be tremendously irritating for Everton’s number nine. But while chances have been hard to come by during the drought, it’s still only a technicality that he hasn’t been credited with a strike during the period after his effort away at Tottenham Hotspur was chalked off due to Andre Gomes applying the kind of force on Emerson Royal that a maître d would use when showing you to your table in a restaurant. While the goal at home to Spurs was retrospectively removed off him and awarded to team-mate Jack Harrison instead.
Related video: Is pressure on Everton boss Sean Tyche a fair assessment? (Dailymotion)
Before that, Calvert-Lewin’s winner at West Ham United on October 29 saw him become only the fourth Everton player to net 50 Premier League goals for the club. One of the previous trio, Tim Cahill, was another bargain deal but the other two, Duncan Ferguson and Romelu Lukacs, were also record signings in their day.
Calvert-Lewin was very similar to Branthwaite in that he was snatched up as a youngster after just a clutch of appearances for his hometown club, in his case Sheffield United, but has gone from being a rough diamond to a Premier League jewel having been polished up by the Blues. We weren’t even sure what his best position was when he first arrived – remember Ronald Koeman picking him as a right wing-back – but DCL, the most dominant aerial target man in the top flight on his day, represents one of the most astute acquisitions from Moshiri and Everton’s first director of football Steve Walsh’s first summer of 2016… such a shame they splurged almost £30million on Yannick Bolasie and Ashley Williams in the same window.
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