My big concern regarding Davies is his lack of a standout attribute which he could cultivate further. With someone like Barkley, no matter how frustrating he could be, his talent and strongest attributes were self-evident.
With Davies, its much harder to see. His strongest attribute appears to be workrate, which is good to have but not something you'd hope would be your defining quality. He's not very good out of possession (this comes with experience in fairness) but in possession he gives the ball away far too often which is a real concern. I don't think experience plays too much of a role here because passing the ball to a guy wearing the same kit as you is the most fundamental basic rule in football, whether you're 5 years old or 55 years old.
I really think it should have been Davies out on loan this season. At 20 years old, there is absolutely no rush for him to be a success story at Everton yet. Let's be honest, he doesn't even know his best position yet.
I do feel sorry for young players coming through in the Premier League though. The stakes are now so unbelievably high that it's very difficult to provide young players with the kind of patience that they need to improve. At the end of the day though, to succeed at this level, you need an extraordinary talent and at the moment I don't see that in Davies. Hope he proves me wrong.
