Everton could complete bargain transfer of prospect who would bring new midfield dimension.
Tom Fellows has been linked to Everton, but what exactly could the West Bromwich Albion prospect offer the Blues?
According to Fabrizio Romano, Fellows is being watched by Everton with the possibility of a summer switch when his contract expires at the end of June. According to the Italian, 777 Partners, who are trying to acquire Goodison Park after reaching an agreement in September to buy Farhad Moshiri’s whole ownership in the team, like the player and might sign the right winger before loaning him out.
777’s director of football analytics Mladen Sormaz attempts to pool every possible piece of information and insight together to take the risk out of transfers, targeting players who offer future potential and are yet to reach their peak, so what stands out in Fellows’ game? Comparison Ator’s Virtual Transfer tool allows us to correlate the Baggies’ youngster’s statistics from this season against those already operating in his position in the Premier League.
The 20-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough moment on Sunday when he netted his first goal in senior football in the 88th minute to put his side 4-0 up against Aldershot Town in the FA Cup third round before the National League side bagged a consolation in stoppage time, cutting inside the full-back and slotting in coolly with a left-foot finish. However, for an attack-minded player, this was his maiden strike at the 65th time of asking having supplemented his 25 appearances for West Brom with 40 matches on loan at League Two Crawley Town last season without finding the net.
While Fellows’ ability to test the goalkeeper needs to be improved (he only averages 0.25 shots per 90 minutes, compared to Jack Harrison’s 1.09, and all of the top 10 players in the Premier League get over 2), he can still be a threat in other areas. In addition to having 16.91 attacking actions per game—more than any other player in the English Premier League right now—Fellows also enjoys 9.2 successful attacking actions, which puts him ahead of Premier League leader Michael Olise on 8.23. Olise is currently leading Crystal Palace with 15.54, ahead of Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling on 14.39.
Such potency comes from Fellows’ propensity to run at opposition defences with the ball. He makes more dribbles per 90 minutes (9.94) than anyone in the Premier League where the top three is Olise (8.93); West Ham United’s Mohammed Kudus (8.59) and Sterling (8.15). Again, the end product is present too with 8.32 successful dribbles topping the same aforementioned trio of Olise (7.07); Kudus (6.39) and Sterling (5.31).
In other respects, Fellows appears to display some of the traditional attributes for wingers as he is also way ahead of all those in the Premier League when it comes to crosses. He puts in 6.71 per 90 minutes which tops leader Andros Townsend of Luton Town with the former Everton man averaging 4.31 ahead of Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo (4.23) and Pedro Neto of Wolverhampton Wanderers (3.71).
In addition, Fellows delivers more effective crosses (2.49) than any of his colleagues in the Premier League, including Mbeumo (1.83), Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United (1.33), and Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest (1.37). Only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (1.34) can surpass Fellows’ 1.24 successful crucial passes when it comes to selecting teammates. Johnson beats out Brennan Johnson of Tottenham Hotspur (1.23) and Sterling (1.13) in this area, with James Garner of Everton placing sixth in the Premier League with 0.92.
When the summer rolls around, the prospect of being a free agent combined with a plan to loan the young player and give him the opportunity to improve the aspects of his game that complement his current abilities might make him seem like a “jolly good.” Friends for
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