Everton’s Fantastic Four

Everton have four players at the club who look likely to go onto do great things in football. On Saturday those four players combined to put in the kind of performance that could be common place between now and the end of the season.

Stones was his usual cool, composed and solid self at the back. Barkley was brilliant and showed an ability to score the simple goal as well as the spectacular. Lukaku was his bullish best and showed his sublime finishing ability. Deulofeu shown that there can’t be any other player in the league that left-backs would be more terrified of.

They are 21, 21, 22 and 21 respectively. They are at the age now where they need to convert that teenage potential into ability and all four are doing that.

Stones seems to get better and better each game. Already so self-assured but this is only his first full season at being a first choice in the team. This time last season he was battling with Sylvain Distin for a place in the team but a year on and he’d be one of the first names on the team sheet and is an England regular. With how Chelsea have been doing this season he must feel happy that he stayed, but then again, Chelsea wouldn’t have conceded anywhere near the same amount of goals with him. It seems that Barcelona have taken an interest in the defender, the Nou Camp is certainly a stage he’s worthy of. He’s a future England captain and will go down as one of England’s greatest defenders.

Barkley in the same breath could go down as one of England’s best midfielders. He is taking longer to learn his trade than Stones and doesn’t seem so self-assured. This season however we are seeing the player that we all wanted to see. More goals and more assists but his contribution has been more important than that. He has always been a player capable of something special but now he is becoming a lot more rounded and dictating play for the whole 90 minutes. Hopefully his confidence remains as he is becoming vitally important to the club.

Lukaku is now Everton’s 5th highest scorer in the Premier League with only Duncan Ferguson, Tim Cahill, Kevin Campbell and Leon Osman ahead of him. He is also out highest ever scorer in Europe. He has already scored and immense amount of goals for his age. Like Barkley, he still has a lot to learn in his game which is frightening, If he is scoring this many goals now then it’ll be at world class levels in his prime, which is still around five years away. Again like Barkley, he’s having a much better season than he did last. The results are a lot better and our players are all contributing. Injuries and personal issues affected him last year but he has come into this season showing just how good he can be.

None of the four had a more difficult season than Deulofeu. It was a sharp learning curve for him as he was unwanted at Barcelona and then ultimately unwanted at Sevilla with both managers not wanting to put their faith in him. He seems like a player who wants to be loved and he knew he would be at Goodison Park. A pre-season injury limited his involvement at the start of the year but in the last few months he has turned into an assist machine. His dazzling feet, and precise passing is making Lukaku and Barkley look even better.

The downside to all this talent is clear. Everton need to grow as quickly as they do, otherwise we won’t be able to keep them. A club like Everton who aren’t in the hunt for major trophies may talk a good game with refusal’s to sell but you can only hold back the water for so long. Interest will arise again for Stones. If Barcelona make a substantial offer then it would be hard to justify keeping him. Any new contract he’d sign would bound to have a release clause so his time in a Everton shirt it seems, may end in the summer. Barkley you’d be more hopeful of due to his affinity with the club but if he reaches his potential then he wouldn’t wait forever. Lukaku’s agent seems intent on him leaving as soon as possible and Deulofeu can be bought back for cheap in the summer.

Holding onto the players will be very difficult. If they do leave then, Deulofeu aside, it’ll be for huge money. Whilst Liverpool and Spurs have shown how you can waste such money, if Everton can learn from their mistakes it’s make for a silver lining to the cloud. Martinez bought Deulofeu and Lukaku and has brought through Stones and Barkley. His policy on playing and spotting youth has led us to a situation of being richly entertained on the pitch and potentially rich in the pocket if they leave.

Hopefully we can improve enough. If we reach Champions League qualification then hopefully they’d all be happy to stay. It’s a tough ask and a problem that Martinez has made from his own fantastic work and long-term philosophy. In the meantime we can watch all of them put teams to the sword. Aston Villa and Sunderland have felt the force of the fantastic four in recent weeks, but they certainly wont be the last.