David Moyes knows his stuff. This was a well-known fact across the blue streets of Merseyside and merely underscored upon the Scots’ return to Everton in January.
He lifted Everton away from the relegation zone, up and up to the security of a mid-table Premier League finish. Positivity was restored as Goodison Park said farewell to the Toffees’ men’s team, and the summer that has since passed has welcomed exciting signings capable of lifting the club higher still.
Would a challenge for some form of European football be too ambitious? Certainly not. The Blues are playing with confidence and quality, even if the focal strikers are leaving plenty to be desired.
What Everton could do with is an academy star to emerge and contribute effectively over the coming months. Moyes has welcomed his share of top talents, and the production line has remained strong in the many years between the 63-year-old’s two tenures.
Everton's best academy talents
The staple of Everton’s modern academy success would, of course, be that man Wayne Rooney, who dazzled when breaking through under Moyes’ wing in 2002, scoring a sumptuous strike against Arsenal and playing with true quality before earning a record-breaking £27m move to Manchester United, aged 18.
He might be the Finch Farm showpiece, but Everton continued to strike gold at academy level after Rooney and then, years later, Moyes left the club, both headed toward Old Trafford.
Ross Barkley was actually forced to downplay “natural” Rooney comparisons as he emerged over a decade later, a powerful and commanding attacking midfielder whose start to life at his boyhood club was a truly remarkable thing.
But Barkley tapered off when completing a £15m move to Chelsea, and now it’s Anthony Gordon who has proved the top youth talent to have surfaced from Everton in recent years.
Gordon completed 78 first-team appearances for Everton before forcing his way out and joining Newcastle for £45m in January 2023. Worth more now, Farhad Moshiri likely felt he had received bang for his buck, given the prospect had only scored seven times.
He’s gone from strength to strength at Newcastle and now stands as a fully-fledged England international and the first-choice option for Thomas Tuchel, it would appear, as we edge ever closer to the 2026 World Cup.
But he could have been so much more on Merseyside, and would have been brilliant under Moyes’ wing. Instead, every mishap suffered when facing his former club is celebrated by the supporters.
The new conditions Moyes and the Friedkin Group have created at the Hill Dickinson Stadium suggest up-and-coming hopefuls may think twice about jumping ship.
And it’s a good thing too, for Everton might actually have an even bigger talent than Gordon on their hands.
Everton may have a bigger talent than Gordon
Gordon is a testament to tenacity and a focus on ironing out the creases in a player’s game. Now he is one of the most prominent English forwards in the country.
Likewise, if Braiden Graham maintains his impressive start to life in Liverpool, he could soon be knocking on Michael O’Neill’s door as he looks to wedge his way into the Northern Ireland set-up.
Graham, 17, might just be the cream of Everton’s academy crop, having been hailed by U21 boss Paul Tait for being a “cool finisher” with all the attributes needed to succeed at the highest level in the Premier League.
Joining Everton from Linfield, based in south Belfast, in 2024, the teenage forward has been an absolute credit thus far, featuring 31 times for the respective Toffees development teams and posting 15 goals and five assists.
With the mark of a natural goalscorer, it’s surely only a matter of time before the teenager, yet to even turn 18, starts knocking on Moyes’ door. While many tests lie ahead regarding the young striker’s technical and physical growth, the progress made already has told of his potential. Indeed, Graham has already made his senior bow, featuring 14 times for Linfield’s men’s team and scoring twice.
Yet to discover his best position, the Northern Irishman has been shuffled across the park, but he’s scored twice from six appearances in the Premier League 2 this term despite featuring in four different positions. His pace and potency in the final third lend themselves to a future as a frontman or an inswinging left winger.
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Braiden Graham: Everton Stats by Position
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Position
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Apps
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Goals (assists)
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Centre-forward
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11
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5 (2)
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Attacking midfield
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9
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8 (1)
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Left winger
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4
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3 (1)
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Right winger
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2
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1 (0)
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Centre-midfield
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3
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0 (0)
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Stats via Transfermarkt
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The right-footed talent might even prove to be a bigger talent than Gordon, who was 18 years and ten months old when Carlo Ancelotti handed him his senior debut in the Premier League against West Ham United in January 2020.
It would not appear out of the question that Graham might be handed his senior bow at some stage in the next 12 months, especially if Everton land a favourable opponent in the FA Cup third round.
Graham’s movement is what sets him apart from those of a similar age bracket, and his multi-positionality is something Gordon has embraced within his own game at Newcastle, often deployed as a stand-in central striker by Eddie Howe.
Graham’s link-up play and intelligence marry up with a natural ease on the ball and an eye for goal, and there’s every chance that, within a new era at Everton, he might earn a promotion and decide to stay and foster his skills under Moyes’ wing, becoming not just a debutant for Everton but a mainstay down the line for a team that continues to show signs of getting better and better.
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