Season › 2017-18 › News Eight youngsters released from Under-18s Thursday, 24 May, 2018 12comments | Jump to most recent Eight players have been released from Everton's youth academy as the Blues look to freshen up their talent pool at the level. The list of youngsters who have been let go this month are: Tom Scully Stephen Duke-McKenna Tom Murphy Sid Kerr Charlie Ball Nathan Moore Nathan Baxter Jordan Corke Scully is reportedly close to sealing a move to Norwich City while Murphy is said by the Liverpool Echo to be weighing up an offer from a club in Ireland. Duke-McKenna, who was part of the first-team squad for the Europa League dead rubber against Apollon Limassol in Nicosia last year, is perhaps the most surprising name on the list. Article continues below video content Reader Comments (12) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Jon Withey 1 Posted 24/05/2018 at 14:48:23 Good luck all. Steve Ferns 2 Posted 24/05/2018 at 16:45:49 I’m surprised at Stephen Duke-McKenna.Don’t give up lads. Keep going. You can still make it. Good luck Liam Reilly 3 Posted 24/05/2018 at 18:03:35 Very tough for these kids as many are just brought on board to make up the numbers with minimum chances of success, so the identified 'star' players can learn their trade.Speaking of kids; I read that Rooney's eldest is showing a lot of promise at Man City's academy! Dave Abrahams 4 Posted 24/05/2018 at 18:12:27 It is a very sad time for all of these young lads. Some will be offered contracts elsewhere and keep their dream of becoming a professional going, hope they succeed, others will be devastated by this news and will drift away from the game. I hope those connected to these boys will continue to support them and build their confidence up and encourage them to keep trying at different clubs.Best wishes to all of them and I hope they all find the will to carry on and find a club who will give them another chance. Kieran Kinsella 5 Posted 24/05/2018 at 18:16:36 Stephen Duke-McKenna probably demanded to leave along with the others to get away from Niasse. Peter Gorman 8 Posted 25/05/2018 at 00:09:39 Duke-McKenna is indeed the most surprising name on that list but he is on the small side and maybe that was an important factor.Needless to say, good luck to all in their future. Don Alexander 9 Posted 25/05/2018 at 00:24:43 To kids of that age everything older might seem old-hat but they perhaps need to reflect on Jamie Vardy, a bloke who was 25 when he was finally signed on by Leicester after stellar performances for years in non-league football. It can be done lads! Chin up, and thanks. Colin Glassar 10 Posted 25/05/2018 at 00:36:47 This is all Oumar Niasse fault. Apparently he’s been bullying the kids and laughing at their first touch. Niasse out!! Tom Bowers 11 Posted 25/05/2018 at 11:32:19 Very hard for many homegrown youngsters these days to force their way into a first-team squad.Most clubs seem hell-bent on importing for excessive fees.Even some of young players Everton have ''imported'' in recent years have fallen by the wayside.Maybe some of them want too much too quickly and develop attitudes which alienates them from a manager's plans.I think, however, it 's down to wages and if you have been brought in on big money then you have to be seen to be in favour with of course Klaassen being an exception. Phil Wood 12 Posted 26/05/2018 at 18:03:58 Good Luck Boys.Always a sad time to see talented youngsters released.Amazed Stephen Duke-McKenna listed. Seen him a few times and always impressed. I hope he follows the route of many other "small" stature players and goes onto greater things but best of luck to them all. Saved a few quid to pay off underachieving Staff.Considering the level of crap we've been watching this season, surely we should have seen some of the younger talent given a squad chance with a few games to go? Managerial egos come before blooding growing players. Michael Kenrick 13 Posted 26/05/2018 at 18:52:12 Duke-McKenna was supposed to be a forward, but he only scored one goal in the entire campaign. Here are the U-18 stats for these departed lads (League & Cup): Duke-McKenna 18 (0) 1 6 (0) 0 Nathan Moore 18 (0) 0 6 (0) 0 Tom Scully 15 (3) 2 3 (2) 0 Sid Kerr 7 (3) 0 3 (0) 0 Jordan Corke 2 (1) 1 0 (0) 0 Nathan Baxter 1 (0) 0 0 (0) 0 Tom Murphy 1 (0) 0 0 (0) 0 Charlie Ball 0 (2) 0 0 (0) 0I expect there will be more players released next week, from U-23s and our bloated first-team squad. Martin Reppion 14 Posted 29/05/2018 at 15:24:51 Chins up, guys. Many players have suffered rejection at a young age and bounced back. Those who have what it takes will make it via non- or lower-league football. Others will need to realise that being a professional isn't a right.They all have had the advantage of learning at a great club. They will be light-years ahead of others in the lower echelons of the game and if they are determined to be the best they can be then they will get chances.I was told many years ago that Dennis Tueart was a trainee rejected by Newcastle before joining Sunderland. Bryan Flynn was told he was too short and went on to play for Wales. (Under 50s – find your own examples.) Good luck to all of the lads. Come back and prove the club wrong. 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