catcherintherye
Player Valuation: £80m
It won't because we don't or can't recruit as aggressively as them. You could argue the south produces better players than our catchment area these days also.
Just for reference though our U23 side has been getting younger every year. At present the average age is 19.2 but that's skewed a little by older players like Gibson and Markelo that won't turn out for them. I've used the current transfermarkt squads but think they'll change a little once the season starts.
Everton FC U21 - Club profile
All information about Everton U21 (Premier League 2) ➤ current squad with market values ➤ transfers ➤ rumours ➤ player stats ➤ fixtures ➤ newswww.transfermarkt.co.uk
Everton FC U18 - Club profile
All information about Everton U18 (U18 Premier League) ➤ current squad with market values ➤ transfers ➤ rumours ➤ player stats ➤ fixtures ➤ news
The squad could end up even younger if some more from the U18's are utilised like they might such as Mills/Mallon/Jagne etc.
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Yes fair points. And the 23's have got a lot younger recently. The reality is Chelsea spend massively more than Everton in youth development as you've said. There is very much an argument here that Everton should spend as much as say Chelsea/City or even Liverpool do, but it would tie up probably 50m a year more in wages and a significant amount in terms of fees and and sign on deals etc. There is an argument that would be a sensible allocation of funds, but there is also a case to say, exactly how much profit are sides like the above getting for this heavy investment they are making year in year out? The numbers above are also quite cautious.
For the talent they have, Chelsea are also starting to leak players, as are the likes of Spurs and you've seen City lose lads like Sancho. In honesty they don't really convert talent very well. Yes I appreciate people will talk about Mount and Reece James, but neither of them get a go if it wasn't for a transfer ban in my view. I said the other week, Chelsea probably have 10 lads who are good or better than Small in their 16's-23's and people were a bit taken aback, but they are awash with talent. If we are offering him say 5-10k p/w they will offer a player like that 25k and a 7 figure sign on fee. Their conversion rate to 1st team players is pretty poor.
I see more from how United do it that I would look at. They have less "raw materials" but bring more through.
