Shayne Lavery credits Everton after excellent start to life at new club

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This summer saw Everton allow young Northern Irish talent Shayne Lavery to leave the club on a free transfer. The 20-year-old, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Falkirk, never featured for the Everton first-team. 

The nearest he came was a place on the bench for a Europa League clash with Apollon Limassol in December 2017. 

So not many Everton fans gave his departure much notice. But Lavery has been on a warpath since and has credited his time with Everton for making him a better player. 

Lavery headed back to Northern Ireland, joining Linfield, and has been in sensational form since making the switch. 

The striker has scored five goals in 10 games for his new club. That includes four goals in six Europa League qualifiers as Linfield came painfully close to dumping regular fixtures Qarabag out of the competition. 

Now he has been called up to the Northern Ireland senior squad by David Healy and is quoted by Breaking News as speaking highly of his time at Finch Farm.

“I don’t see it as a step back at all. It’s just good to be back playing football again and showing people what I can do.

“(Under-23 coach) David Unsworth, (under-23 assistant boss) John Ebbrell, it was great to be coached by them. They’re ex-Premier League players and I can take a lot of positives from it for the rest of my career.

“With the players I was training with at Everton, it made me a better player. I don’t have any regrets about it at all.”

TBR’s View

Unfortunately for Lavery, the Everton youth system is extremely successful and he was simply surpassed by several other talents at the club. 

However, Lavery has taken his opportunity since leaving Merseyside with both hands. He is now in a Northern Ireland side who face Germany in a crunch EURO 2020 qualifier during the current international break. 

It certainly seems Lavery might build a career for himself away from Goodison Park.