Cost £0, sold for £27m:Everton hit the jackpot by selling Moyes ‘special

One of the most historic establishments in English football is Everton Football Club. The Merseysiders have enjoyed great success throughout their history, and although they have been devoid of silverware in the 21st Century, they still boast an impressive trophy cabinet.

Throughout their history, Everton have won the English top flight nine times, with their last in 1986/87, the FA Cup five times and the Community Shield on nine occasions. Their most recent trophy was the latter, won in the 1995/96 season.

However, it is not just an impressive trophy cabinet that Everton have. Their academy has also produced some truly fantastic players, particularly in the Premier League era.

Everton’s best recent academy products

One of the best Toffees academy players in recent years is former midfielder Ross Barkley. Now plying his trade at Aston Villa and looking back to his best form, the midfielder captured the hearts of Everton fans before his departure to Chelsea back in 2018.

The midfielder played 179 times for his boyhood club, scoring 27 goals and grabbing 29 assists along the way. Arguably his best season in that famous Blue shirt was in 2015/16 when he scored 12 times and registered 11 assists in 48 games in all competitions.

Another iconic Everton academy graduate is Leon Osman. The Wigan-born midfielder was something of a stalwart in a Toffees shirt, and places sixth on the list of all-time appearance makers for the club, with 433 games. In that time, the Everton academy graduate scored 58 goals and got 37 assists.

However, as good as the likes of Barkley and Osman were for the clubs who gave them their big breaks in professional football, there is one Toffees academy graduate who stands far above the rest. That player is Wayne Rooney.

Rooney’s Everton Career

Many people put forward strong cases for the Merseyside-born and bred legend being the greatest Premier League player and the greatest British player of all time. Rooney was simply phenomenal.

He had two stints at Goodison Park, sandwiched in between over a decade at Manchester United. The first came as a youngster, breaking through into the first team under David Moyes as a 16-year-old sensation. The second came after he left Old Trafford, a glorious final season in the Premier League at the club where he first made his name.

The former striker, who is now a manager at Championship side Plymouth Argyle, played just three full seasons for his boyhood club. He made 117 appearances in total, scoring 28 times and registering eight assists.

The England legend first burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old, announcing himself with a stunning strike against Arsenal in just his ninth Premier League appearance.

It was a superb strike, picking the ball up on the edge of the box and driving forward, lashing the ball from 30 yards out past David Seaman via the crossbar to win the game for his side.

From there, the youngster went from strength to strength, making England’s Euro 2004 squad after another successful season in Blue. Off the back of a memorable tournament, in which he scored four goals and grabbed an assist in four games, he got a big move to Old Trafford.

United paid Everton £27m to acquire his services, joining on a six-year contract. It was a huge bit of business for the Merseysiders, especially given it was pure profit as the striker was an academy graduate.

Rooney stayed at Old Trafford until 2017, when he left as their record scorer with 253 goals to his name. He returned to Goodison for one season, scoring ten goals in 31 Premier League games as a midfielder, before leaving for pastures new in MLS.

Moyes, who gave the legendary attacker his debut all the way back in 2002, once described him as a “special talent”. It is fair to say that Rooney lived up to, and exceeded, all expectations.

He will go down as one of Everton, and football’s, greatest ever players.

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