Everton Sign £2m Teenager
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October 4, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
Everton FC have beaten off other top British clubs to sign highly rated 15-year-old prospect George Green from Bradford City.
The midfielder is set to join the Merseyside club after they agreed to pay a fee believed to be between £280,000 and £300,000 up front and then add-ons being available for appearances, any new contracts signed, international appearances and a bumper sell-on clause for any future transfer fee received.
Green will join up with the Everton academy on a full-time basis next summer after the club beat both Tottenham Hotspur and Rangers to his signature.
Everton academy director Alan Irving believes that Green has all the attributes required to make it as a Premier League star, but a lot of work is required to hone his raw talent in to the finished article.
“He has got good potential but at the moment that’s all it is,” he said. “He has got a lot of work to do.
“George is a young player who was attracting interest from a number of clubs. We’re happy to have him and we’re looking forward to working with him here at the academy.”
The price Everton could pay for Green would match that paid by Arsenal to Notts County for current Stoke City star Jermaine Pennant in 1999, and that Spurs paid Queens Park Rangers for the services of Dean Parrett in 2007, who were both also 15 at the time.
Manchester United also paid Burnley £1m in 2009 for the signature of 14-year-old John Cofie.
Bradford’s head of football development Archie Christie is in no doubt that Green has what it takes to succeed at the highest level, saying in an interview with the Bradford-based Telegraph & Argus: “This is one of the highest deals ever for a 15-year-old from a League Two club.
“But George is the best I’ve seen in his position at his age. He could become another Wayne Rooney or Paul Gascoigne.”
By Leigh Gruffydd Sanders
[Image courtesy of Tom Pennington]
