When Luke Garbutt entered the pitch as a substitute with around 15 minutes to go in Oxford United’s clash against Bristol Rovers on Saturday, the Everton loanee marked just his fourth substitute appearance since October.
Without a league start for Oxford since 2 October, Garbutt’s loan nightmare continues, showing why Everton must sell him in January.
Garbutt must seek a move to a different League One club in order to continue his career unimpeded by the short-term nature of constant loan deals.
The fullback is struggling immensely to break back into the first team of the League One side, an embarrassing fall from grace for the formerly highly-rated youngster.
Garbutt made his Premier League debut for Everton back in April 2014 as a 20-year-old, yet has failed to ever consistently feature for the Toffees. A multitude of loan spells followed for the defender, culminating in his time at Oxford.
And while Garbutt played in eight of Oxford’s first 11 league matches, the club lost seven and drew one of the games he was involved in.
His last start came in an early October loss to Luton Town, and since that date, Garbutt has featured in short cameos against Bradford, Rochdale, Doncaster, and most recently Bristol Rovers.
For a player who can barely cut it at League One level, it is glaringly obvious that Luke Garbutt has no Everton future, and the club must offload the defender in the January transfer window.
Garbutt must force a permanent move away from Oxford in order to restart his career in the Football League, distanced from the spectre of constant loan deals.