Why Joey Hope to Everton would be a solid move
According to Grimsby Live, Everton have been credited with an interest in Grimsby Town defender Joey Hope, with the Toffees keen to get their hands on the 17-year-old left-back.
The Toffees, though, will need to beat off stiff competition from the Championship outfit Middlesbrough in their pursuit of the League Two starlet, who is yet to make his senior professional bow for Grimsby Town. (h/t Grimsby Live)
The teenager made his move to Grimsby last summer and began his scholarship with Neil Wood’s youth team, having been a part of Sunderland’s academy earlier in his career.
Hope featured alongside some of the senior players for the reserves in the previous campaign before being called up by senior manager Micheal Jolley for Grimsby’s EFL Trophy fixture against Scunthorpe United earlier in the ongoing season.
The 17-year-old didn’t enter the field of play but he has continued to impress for the Mariners’ youth sides and a senior debut in the near future should be beyond the realms of possibility.
However, he has already caught the eye of some bigger clubs higher up the pyramid, and with Everton and Middlesbrough keeping close tabs on his progress, the talented teenager might not be honing his skills at Blundell Park for much longer.
Held in high regard by the youth staff at Grimsby as a player with the potential to go on and ply his trade at the highest level, Joey Hope is currently in the second year of his scholarship deal, but given that he is yet to pen professional terms with the Mariners, the League Two outfit could find it difficult to shield him from interest.
To put things into perspective, Joey Hope is still much much in the developmental stage of his career and has a long way to go before he evolves into a finished article capable of making an impact on the Premier League but Everton should look at him as one for the future.
The teenage left-back is yet to get a taste of senior men’s football but his development so far has been quite impressive and the Toffees could have a gem on their hands in the future if he goes on to fulfil his promise in the years to come.
In conjunction with Director of Football Marcel Brands, Silva has put a lot of emphasis on building a team around developing players, with the Toffees spending heavily on up and coming talents like Richarlison, Alex Iwobi, Jean-Phillipe Gbamin and Moise Kean over the last twelve months.
Academy prospects like Tom Davies, Kieran Dowell, Jonjoe Kenny and Beni Baningime have found regular minutes hard to come by but that is largely down to actual competition for places in the ranks rather than Silva’s lack of trust in youngsters.
Verdict
Everton are constantly on the lookout for emerging prospects across the globe in a bid to supplement their academy with some quality talent and a homegrown starlet like Joey Hope would certainly be another exciting addition to the pool of burgeoning young talents at the club.
Even if Everton’s interest does come to fruition, the left-back would probably only link up with the U-18s in the U-18 Premier League and then it will be up to him to progress through the ranks to the U-23s in the Premier League 2 before giving himself a chance of staking a claim for a first-team call-up.
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The process of transition to senior professional football is hardly so straightforward when it comes to the Premier League and Hope will be hoping to catch the eye of some Football League club in the future to further his development on loan if he does end up at Goodison Park.
All in all, Hope’s talent and potential certainly makes him worth a punt for Everton and this is a move that could well reap rich rewards in the future.