Everton to sign defensive prospect from Denmark

Wednesday, 17 April, 2019 42comments  |  Jump to most recent

Everton appear have agreed to sign Danish defender Sebastian Kristensen from Lyngby BK for the Under-18s setup.

The 16-year-old, described as one of the Danish club's top young talents, is due to arrive at the club in July after impressing the Blues' coaching staff during a recent trial at Finch Farm.

Lyngby's sporting director, Birger Jorgensen, spoke to HITC about the impending move, saying that, “Everton has followed Sebastian closely, had him on trial and has shown the format and willingness to get things going.

“The family and Sebastian have also been thorough, so even though it is a big step, it is well considered.”

"We cry with one eye on sending players as early as possible, but at the same time we see it as a good opportunity and something we would like to support our talents in, in the cases where it makes sense for all parties.”

 

Reader Comments (42)

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Kevin Byrne
1 Posted 17/04/2019 at 21:08:41
I thought we had a transfer ban on under 23s
Kevin Prytherch
2 Posted 17/04/2019 at 21:10:02
I was just about to write the same
Chris Williams
3 Posted 17/04/2019 at 21:39:55
Taken from Guardian Newspaper Report:-

The club will pay a fine of £500,000 and will be banned for two years from registering any academy player who has been registered with another Premier League or EFL club in the preceding 18 months. The club will also pay additional compensation payments to the former clubs of two academy players.”

So as not from an English team we're okay according to this I think

Phil Sammon
4 Posted 17/04/2019 at 22:25:42
Expect this young man to have a 3 year stretch playing reserve football before unspectacular loans at Cheltenham and Brentford see him back in Denmark by 2024.
Mike Galley
5 Posted 17/04/2019 at 22:45:16
Anyone know anything about this kid? Do we have a Danish toffees on here?
Andy Crooks
6 Posted 17/04/2019 at 23:07:48
Phil, I thought I was a glass half empty guy.
Mike Allison
8 Posted 18/04/2019 at 08:04:25
I normally get annoyed at the kind of pointless negativity shown by Phil there, but I’ve seen us sign so many ‘hot prospects’ of this type who have never produced anything that I understand where he’s coming from.

Still, there’s not much to be gained from writing off a 16 year old before he’s even joined is there? Perhaps a cowardly protection from eventual disappointment. As he’s 16 he might actually be scouring the comments sections of fan websites, I probably would, so here’s to him becoming the next Franz Beckenbauer/ Franco Baresi/ Paolo Maldini. Good luck kid.

Kase Chow
9 Posted 18/04/2019 at 08:59:20
We only need 1-2 of these to work out to validate the idea so why wouldn’t we persist?

God know the amount of money we wasted on Sandro, Klassen, Bolasie etc so £500K punts on youngsters has to be worthwhile

If we didn’t do this and other clubs tried this approach instead and succeeded we’d deride the club

Sometimes we can’t do right for doing wrong

Good luck Sebastian lad

Drew O'Neall
10 Posted 18/04/2019 at 09:15:13
Andy - oh you are ;)

Mike - well said. In case he is reading (I would too), add Kevin Ratcliffe, Dave Watson, Alan Stubbs, Richard Gough.. to that list (biased towards those players the lad might actually be able to find footage of on YouTube).

Welcome to paradise lad. Once Everton has touched you nothing will be the same..

Frank Wade
11 Posted 18/04/2019 at 10:05:43
Hope Sebastian can grow as a player with Everton. Does anyone know if, post Brexit, these signings from countries like Denmark, will have the same work permit rules as exist with non EU cointries at the moment, like Henry Onyekuru.
Mark Andersson
12 Posted 18/04/2019 at 10:16:08
Hope Everton dose touch the lad if hes any good... it ceretainly has not touched Lookman...
Henrik Lyngsie
13 Posted 18/04/2019 at 10:38:16
Mike 5. A Danish toffee here. I don’t know the guy. Lyngby is famous for good youth setup. A team mate of my son just transferred to Lyngby and was a team mate of Sebastian. Maybe I can find out more from him.
I checked the national team both U17 and u16 and I could not find him there.
Mike Galley
14 Posted 18/04/2019 at 11:23:06
Thanks Henrik. As has been mentioned by others on here, we seem to make a lot of these sort of signings without long term effect. Hopefully, this might the first of Brands football connections coming to fruition!
Les Green
15 Posted 18/04/2019 at 11:28:05
Frank (11) nobody knows. But Brexit means Brexit, if that helps?
Phil Sammon
16 Posted 18/04/2019 at 11:41:13
Andy 6 & Mike 8

I’m only joking lads but, of course, the vast majority of these youngsters don’t end up making the grade. That shouldn’t cause us to give up, obviously.

Eric Myles
17 Posted 18/04/2019 at 11:59:22
Phil #16, I guess it's a gamble both ways, for us and for him.

He's a 16 year old coming to a foreign country he has no cultural experience with. How frightening would you think that is?

He's taking a gamble as we are, be the next big thing and he's minted, as we are for trophies/ transfer fees.

Good luck to the lad, may both dreams come true.

Mads Kamp
18 Posted 18/04/2019 at 12:02:08
I’ m from Denmark.
Sebastian is compared to another legendary Danish defender, named Per Krøldrup

Exciting times ahead!

Eric Myles
19 Posted 18/04/2019 at 12:04:15
Hopefully someone at Finch Farm can teach him how to head a ball then Mads??
Derek Knox
20 Posted 18/04/2019 at 13:01:35
Mads @18, I was having a lovely day until I read that comparison to Per Kroldrup, what a flip-flop he was. I will never forgive Tommy Gravesen, who recommended Per to Everton, when he signed for Real Madrid. He wasn't exactly cheap either!

Surely this kid has to have more potential than Per, for Brands to have spotted him or been recommended o him from his Scouting Contacts. Hopefully he'll be a Danish Toffee and not another Danish Cookie!

James Flynn
21 Posted 18/04/2019 at 13:03:01
Ossie on Moyes and Kroldrup:

‘On his very first day of training, the gaffer took him to one side and started doing heading practice with him, like you would with a seven-year-old. It was a case of holding the ball, saying: “Are you ready? One, two, three – jump.”

‘Honestly, it was incredible. I don’t know what happened, but he had obviously realised that heading wasn’t Per’s strong point. £5m for a centre-half who can’t head the ball..!

‘You can be as talented as you like but in the Premier League you’ve got to be able to head it. Per came from Udinese in Serie A where the defenders were comfortable on the ball, good at positioning but not overly physical.

‘Per didn’t seem to want to head it, which was incredible for a centre-half. He went on to spend six years with Fiorentina, so he’s obviously a good player but he wasn’t set up for the Premier League. Per started one game, away to Villa on Boxing Day, and we lost 4-0. He was up against big John Carew, who just annihilated him.

‘I reckon if Per came back now he’d be a lot better. It can take people a while to adapt to the physicality of the Premier League and he simply wasn’t ready.

Sam Hoare
22 Posted 18/04/2019 at 13:11:00
As Phil alludes to, 7 times out of ten a kid like this will never be heard of again. Maybe a handful will graduate to the U23 team, do well there and win the league/get a decent loan if they are lucky. Maybe 1 in 20 or 30 will go on to have a career with Everton or another PL club at first team level.

For every Calvert-Lewin there are 20 Guillaume Plessis's.

Peter Gorman
23 Posted 18/04/2019 at 13:44:10
Peter Degn was the Danish Guillaume Plessis.

Seriously I think we fans should not expect to hear about this kid again until maybe a couple of years pass and he potentially makes waves at U23. But for the kid himself, welcome to the club, hope it works out for him, he enjoys himself and learns a lot.

Mike Gaynes
24 Posted 18/04/2019 at 13:50:22
Sam #22, I once read up on this topic to answer a TW query, and the odds are much longer than that. Most 16-year-old prospects are out of the professional game completely by 21.

Suffice it to say that Phil's scenario at #4 would represent spectacular success for the young man.

Sam Hoare
25 Posted 18/04/2019 at 14:09:31
Mike @24, I can imagine. Very tough path. What % of PL 16 year olds are expected to have a career in the PL do you remember?
Mads Kamp
26 Posted 18/04/2019 at 14:34:32
Sorry guys, the Krøldrup comparison was only a joke, I don’t know anything about the guy.
However, if he wants some taste of Danish quality Brands should keep an eye on Robert Skov from FC Copenhagen.
A comparison to legendary Eder is not a joke!
James Flynn
27 Posted 18/04/2019 at 16:15:37
Speaking of youth development, Steve Walsh's guy, chief scout Martyn Glover, is leaving.
Andy Meighan
28 Posted 18/04/2019 at 16:23:56
Sam (#22),

For every Calvert-Lewin there are 20 Guillame Plessis. Yeah, sure, like Calvert-Lewin is the envy of every club below us in the Premier League Workrate isn't in doubt but he'll never be a top player because – put simply – his goal return is ordinary. Very ordinary.

Mike Gaynes
29 Posted 18/04/2019 at 18:08:35
Sam, what I read wasn’t specific to the PL. But it did say that the chances for a 16-year-old already in a professional program to be still be a paid footballer at 21 (any level) was way less than half. And the chance of a top level career was maybe two In a thousand.
Si Cooper
30 Posted 18/04/2019 at 21:45:59
We have to realise that we need to keep the junior ranks as strong as possible in order for there to be any chance that any of them will make it to the senior level.
It is simply not realistic to expect every prospect to make it to the top level. If they help to give us successful and competitive U18s and U23s then they should be judged as qualified successes rather than abject failures and pilloried on TW.
Karl Masters
31 Posted 19/04/2019 at 00:21:11
Mark Anderson @12.

An Evertonian friend of mine works with a relative of Ademola Lookman. He says all Ademola wants is to play, and that his lack of playing any proper football ( it seems they won’t even give him or other first team squad players a game in the under 23’s) is what is frustrating the life out of him.

When you look at how little football he and others have played this season, it’s easy to see why they are looking at the overtures of clubs like Leipzig who are offering not just money, but game time.

It would be interesting to see how many minutes Lookman has spent on the pitch this season. I bet it can’t be much more than 15 hours, which is sod all in 12 months.

Faced with just training, wouldn’t you feel like your career was stalling, regardless of whether you were earning millions?

It’s a problem the Club and English football needs to address quickly or else our best youngsters will be going abroad rapids!

Mark Andersson
32 Posted 19/04/2019 at 00:29:41
Karl if true and I'm not doubting your source the simple fact is Lookman according to fans on here dose not light up any trees when he dose get his limmited chances..

Marco was under pressure most of the season so played his more experianced players...

Maybe Lookman will play more games next season but I have a feeling he will be sold...

Mike Gaynes
33 Posted 19/04/2019 at 02:33:50
Karl #31, it's way worse than you thought. Lookman has played only 553 minutes in the PL this season.

He also has three Cup appearances, two of them starts. So figure around 13 hours total.

Alan J Thompson
34 Posted 19/04/2019 at 04:47:05
I'd have a lot more confidence in these sort of signings if there was more evidence that any juniors are progressing. Davies, Kenny and Lookman are getting very little match time, many others have to be sent out on loan for the same thing and Calvert-Lewin gets a start as he seems a better target man than Tosun. All this while seemingly having the best U23s in the last few years, cashing in on Stones and having at least one manager who thought only 27/28 year olds would be good enough for the Premier League.
Frank Crewe
35 Posted 19/04/2019 at 12:16:16
It amazes me that kids this age, especially foreign ones, would sign for any English PL club. Considering the success rate for bringing players this age through to the first team is miniscule his chances of progressing are almost non-existent. Unless he has some kind of exceptional talent he'll simply disappear into the maw of youth football only to be disgorged at U23 level disillusioned but wiser having been on the loan tour around the lower leagues to "toughen him up".
You do wonder if these youngsters get proper honest advice about progressing their careers or do their advisors just see the pound signs? Sign for small clubs were you will get games and gain experience. If you are any good bigger clubs will spot you and then you can make progress.
I wish him the best of luck. Maybe he'll be the one in a million who makes it but if past history is anything to go by I doubt we'll hear from him again.
Dave Abrahams
36 Posted 19/04/2019 at 12:43:36
Frank (35), I understand what you are saying and it does work the other way, I know a young lad who was offered trials at Everton and Liverpool, after being recommended by Teachers at school, he thanked the Teachers, didn’t know they had recommended him, but never went for the trials because he had seen a few friends after being with clubs since the age of ten and younger being released at fifteen and sixteen and thoroughly broken up when let go.
Derek Knox
37 Posted 19/04/2019 at 12:45:11
Frank @35, while I agree the chances of a youngster making it onto the big stage is fairly remote, and admittedly we have, in the past, had ' players of promise and potential ' who have disappeared into oblivion, but hopefully (a word that is always used when talking all things Everton) this kid may be an exception to the rule.

The fact that he has been recommended by Marcel Brands, does give me some genuine hope, as he has up to now done okay with his tasks of importing/exporting players.

Phill Thompson
38 Posted 19/04/2019 at 14:18:22
Frank #35, one reason youngsters sign is our Academy system, which is a Category 1 Academy. They will have better facilities, better coaches than if they signed for a lower league club, oh and better wages too.
It can be a tough choice, remain a big fish in a small pond or try your luck at making it with a big club which is obviously harder but is likely to give you a better development. At least, whatever happens he’ll never be wondering “ What if I’d taken my chance ”
Good luck to him.
Frank Crewe
39 Posted 19/04/2019 at 15:16:43
"our Academy system, which is a Category 1 Academy. They will have better facilities, better coaches than if they signed for a lower league club, oh and better wages too."

Pity it's not producing better players.

Paul Birmingham
40 Posted 19/04/2019 at 19:15:58
Let’s get more facts, about this signing but the foundation for such a signing, you’d think is via MB and his network.

Let’s hope and hope the lad does well, but as always patience with all matters EFC, is needed.

Time will tell.

Karl Meighan
41 Posted 20/04/2019 at 17:31:36
Juniors will progress if they are good enough, the truth is none of are youngsters Davies, Kenny or Lookman have done enough in the minutes they have been given.

Calvert Lewin lacks quality to be a top player imo but has earned his place and is improving can the same be said of the other 3 mentioned?

If we have youngsters good enough there will be little need for them to be going out on loan.

Alan J Thompson
42 Posted 20/04/2019 at 17:40:11
Karl(#41); It seems that one of them was good enough to be made Captain before swapping between the Bench and being rested.
Karl Meighan
43 Posted 21/04/2019 at 13:02:58
Ye right Alan he really earned that, the lad has gone backwards whether you like it or not, he done ok when he broke through since then? I hope he comes good as much as anybody but this is hardly a Everton team a up and coming future top player would struggle to get game time in.

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