Season › 2022-23 › News Ex-Everton player Shani Tarashaj retires at 27 07/10/2022 15comments | Jump to last Shani Tarashaj, a speculative signing by Roberto Martinez who never managed a game for Everton, has announced his retirement from football at the age of just 27 because of injury.A £3m acquisition from Grasshopper Zurich in January 2016, Tarashaj was regarded by some in his homeland at the time as the potential new Xherdan Shaqiri. He was loaned back to Grasshopper for the remainder of the 2015-16 season to allow the player to complete his national service but he featured in Everton's pre-season preparations the following summer following Martinez's sacking. Article continues below video content However, he was not included a part of new manager Ronald Koeman's plans for the upcoming season and, continuing a pattern that would sum up his time with the Blues, he joined Eintracht Frankfurt on a season-long loan. His time in Germany was disrupted by enforced absence, first from benign angina and then when he had to have his tonsils removed.A serious knee injury the following summer required surgery, sidelining him for the remainder of the year and his recovery would take up most of the 2016-17 season, spent behind the scenes at Finch Farm.More than two years after signing for Everton, he finally got to play in a competitive game, albeit for the development team, appearing as a surprise second striker for David Unsworth's Under-23s but he was ultimately not considered good enough by the new management team of Marcel Brands and Marco Silva in the summer of 2018 and he was sent back to his old club in Zurich at the beginning of the 2018-19 season, for another season-long loan. Tarashaj was effectively offloaded by Everton in 2019 when he signed what was supposed to be a 2-year loan deal with FC Emmen in the Dutch Eredivisie. However, Emmen cancelled the loan in October 2020 as the player struggled with injuries and failed to make a first-team appearance for them. As a result, Everton terminated his contract early. He never made a single appearance for the Everton senior team and would eventually be forced to call time on his career this week aged just 27 because of recurrent injuries. Reader Comments (15) 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 () Will Mabon 1 Posted 12/10/2022 at 13:15:09 I think stories like this are why we have the word chequered. James Flynn 2 Posted 12/10/2022 at 14:22:00 Even worse signing than Besic. Michael Kenrick 3 Posted 12/10/2022 at 14:31:07 At £15k pw, £780k pa… that's another £3.5M.For nothing. Absolutely zilch. Premier League football is just a very odd business. Of course, he could just as easily have turned into Switzerland's Erling Haaland... but what are the chances of that? Nick Page 4 Posted 12/10/2022 at 14:45:54 I’m shocked he’s only 27! John Raftery 5 Posted 12/10/2022 at 14:47:27 No testimonial then? Alan McGuffog 6 Posted 12/10/2022 at 15:07:34 What is it with us and "amazing young talents"? Go back to Martin Murray, then on to Michael Branch, and then include the likes of Billy Kenny and Jose Baxter.What goes wrong? John Keating 7 Posted 12/10/2022 at 15:17:48 Agree, Michael,A multi-millionaire for doing nowt!Not bad for a young lad.At least I had to work 12 months. Will Mabon 8 Posted 12/10/2022 at 15:22:34 Alan, Martin Murray was the first example of an unearthed, supposed superstar-in-the-making from humble roots that I remember. All I could recall was his club being Home Farm, and a picture of him in their hooped kit on a muddy pitch.I just took a look at Wiki to be reminded of the details of the whole unfortunate saga. Jeff Armstrong 9 Posted 12/10/2022 at 15:45:36 David Smallman, another from the seventies. Alan McGuffog 10 Posted 12/10/2022 at 16:28:06 Will... I recall us being in a drawn-out battle with the Man Utd for his signature. All got sorted and then he was homesick, I think. Clive Rogers 11 Posted 12/10/2022 at 16:36:13 Add George Green to the list. John Chambers 12 Posted 12/10/2022 at 17:03:14 Bit harsh on Smallman and Murray. Smallman played 21 times scoring 6 goals, a return we would probably be happy with in the current squad as a backup striker, before injury (two broken legs, dislocated shoulder and more) effectively ended his time at the club. Murray had to retire from elite football (I think he continued to play in the Irish League) as a teenager due to a heart condition. Brian Murray 13 Posted 12/10/2022 at 17:10:03 John, A lot of publicity at the time when we got my namesake from Home Farm. The new George Best even. Smallman looked the part and I remember scored a cracking overhead kick in the title charge in 1974, to go two-up vs Sheffield Utd. Enter Dai "The Drop" Davies, gifting them goals to lose. Add Billy Kenny to that list. Will Mabon 14 Posted 12/10/2022 at 17:36:17 Alan, yes - there was talk of homesickness, now you remind.Long time ago. Danny O’Neill 15 Posted 12/10/2022 at 17:47:28 Take the money out of the equation. It's part of the game unfortunately. The young lad didn't decide that. We don't mind it when a player succeeds.A crying shame a player has to retire from the game at 27 years old.A crying shame anyone has to give up a career at such a young age.It's always a gamble when you sign a young footballer. Will they succeed or not? It's the ultimate unknown. You could say as much about most people in any walk of life. 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