Matthew Pennington stays on with Hull City

Shame, we could have brought Pennington back to play for the U23s to get valuable experience. Plus he could have helped with the younger players with their development. A bit like how we used Jose Baxter, Harry Charsley etc.

Harry, he could have been brought back as cover for the injured Mina if we had needed him, but evidently Carlo is confident enough in Gibson's ability and Mina's recovery that it's not necessary.

And it's way better experience for Matty to play the 9 remaining games with Hull (where he regained his starting job in February) than to come back for a few appearances with our U23s, particularly since he clearly has no first-team future at Everton.

Isn't the U23 season finished?

He will be 26 in October. His time at Everton is surely over.

Yes, Phil (#3), I think the U23 season is done, with the four remaining games cancelled, so there'd be nothing there for him to come back to.

The other thought voiced above by Mike Gaynes is that he could have returned to strengthen our injury-stricken back line. I think this might contravene the current loan rules, as I've seen the point made elsewhere (specifically re Mo Besic) that, as a returning loanee, he would not be eligible to play for Everton (first team?) this season.

Perhaps someone could confirm that?

So it seems the issue with any player out on loan that their registration is with the loan club and cannot be transferred back to the parent club until the term of the loan ends or the transfer window opens again.

Seems this would be a hurdle in the way of Lewis Gibson coming back from Fleetwood Town to strengthen the backline, for example (as suggested in the Echo), but might be dodged through seeking special dispensation from the powers that be.

But there must be a provision for loans to be cut short (eg, Adedoyin, Virginia) mid-season... perhaps that's the transfer window again?