Everton make official Coran Madden approach as ‘golden’ teen chooses trial options, Manchester United, Newcastle, and Liverpool all keen
Everton wanted “golden child” Coran Madden and made an official approach for the Cliftonville academy teenager, according to Belfast Live.
The outlet reported on their website Sunday (13 August) that the Toffees were joined by a host of English giants in looking to secure a trial with the 14-year-old from West Belfast, but Newcastle and Manchester United have prevailed.
Liverpool and Manchester City also liked the versatile young attacker as well as relegated Southampton and Leicester City, with the whole top flight reportedly having asked about him according to Cliftonville’s Head of Youth Marc Smyth, who called Madden “exceptional” and “the best young talent in the country”.
Smyth said: “Every Premier League club has asked about him, but with the new rules a young player can only choose two clubs each year. So Coran has chosen Manchester United and Newcastle United.
“We also had interest from Manchester City, Liverpool, Everton and other clubs like Southampton and Leicester City. He is such a gifted player.”
He added: “His dad is a Liverpool fan, so it definitely wasn’t any loyalties to either club
“Manchester United and Newcastle United are massive clubs, and spoke well with the family and wanted to bring them over.
“There were clubs from all over the place interested in Coran. With the new rules you feel a bit embarrassed saying, ‘sorry, we thank you for your interest but we can’t take you up on your offer’.
Wanted
You can’t win them all and Everton are far from alone in missing out on a chance to host the youngster who is being tipped for a big future in England.
It looks like the race was about as wide as it could be in terms of Premier League sides, so while the Toffees made an approach it would always be difficult to prevail in such a crowded race.
If the treble winners at the Etihad have also ended up disappointed then this is a pursuit that Everton shouldn’t feel quite so bad about compared to various frustrations in the senior market.
Madden appears to have the full selection of options for his short-term future so while he is not guaranteed to end up signing with Manchester United or Newcastle there will be no shortage of takers if he doesn’t.
Everton haven’t had the luxury of seeing much benefit from youngsters coming through of late, with the last one to make a real impact in Anthony Gordon now long gone, after his relationship with the fans soured and he was sold to Newcastle for £45million in January [Sky Sports].
Highly-rated young full-back Ishe Samuels-Smith was sold to Chelsea this summer for just £4m [Athletic, 8 July] before he had even made a first-team appearance, while former academy product Ellis Simms left for Coventry City.
In other Everton news, another first-team signing has been secured and Alan Myers reports that the club can still make it permanent.
