23/06/2024 35comments  |  Jump to last

Lewis Dobbin has joined Aston Villa in a deal that is officially undisclosed but is reported to be in the region of £10m.

The young winger, a product of the Blues' Finch Farm academy, swaps places with Tim Iroegbunam who was confirmed as the first of Everton's summer signings for £9m.

The news follows a report in The Athletic that talks had been positive between the two clubs over Dobbin who has been on the fringes of the Toffees' first team over the past couple of seasons but missed game time in 2023-24 due to an ankle injury.

In all, he made 20 senior appearances for the Toffees, scoring one goal, a memorable first-time strike against Chelsea last December in a 2-0 win at Goodison Park.

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"Since the age of 11, I've called this club home," Dobbin said in a post to social media. "A lifetime of memories. There's (sic) been high points and lows but I wouldn't change it for the world.

"I want to thank everyone associated with the club — from the staff, the players, the people behind the scenes, but, most importantly, you fans.

"Thank you for your constant support and messages. I felt like now was the right time to start a new adventure and continue to give it my all to achieve my dreams.

"I'll forever be grateful for this club and wish you all nothing but the best in the future.

"Thank you, Blues."

Meanwhile, a statement on evertonfc.com read: "Everyone at the Club would like to thank Lewis for his contribution to Everton, from his journey through our Academy to Senior Team, and we wish him all the best for the future."

 

Reader Comments (35)

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Stephen Davies
1 Posted 22/06/2024 at 11:50:38
㿅m Fee... possibly Minteh coming the other way.

The Telegraph is the Source for the FCL report

John Wilson
2 Posted 23/06/2024 at 13:25:18
I am guessing Villa had got the better end of the swap deal. Villa wouldn't let someone they want go. Everton have strengthened Villa as Villa got to keep their best players.

It's far too early in the transfer window to be letting Dobbin go. Dobbin can score and has been part of the first team. We now need to replace Dobbin (winger) and Gomes (midfielder).

Dobbin could have been a good squad filler. This new kid that has come in from Villa, a midfielder that looks small, we know nothing about.

Ryan Holroyd
3 Posted 23/06/2024 at 13:39:05
Villa are selling a player to Chelsea for 㾿M and I don't think they want him to go so that's wrong.

Also, Everton's new midfielder is 6ft so he's not small.

Andrew Keatley
4 Posted 23/06/2024 at 13:43:05
Dobbin officially gone.

And agree with Ryan above about Villa keeping their best players; it's just not true. They are likely going to be selling Douglas Luiz this summer, and have lost several young players in the last few years - especially Carney Chukwuemeka - when they would have preferred to keep them.

They got 㿀 million for Chukwuemeka when he was still only 18 - so they got a decent fee - but if he can stay fit and get minutes at Chelsea he could easily become a 㿲+ million player, he's that good.

Ben King
5 Posted 23/06/2024 at 14:00:04
John,

Your comments are devoid of any research or fact. It's an absolutely pointless moan.

Dobbin has scored 1 goal for us. Hardly a loss in terms of goals.

Tim is 6ft and contributed to a team that qualified for the Champions League.

Why don't you research ahead of posting??

John Wilson
6 Posted 23/06/2024 at 14:59:18
Dobbin made 7 assists playing for Derby. He scored a good goal for us. How many had your man Tim scored and or was he as important to Villa as Dobbin is Everton?

Getting rid of Tim saves getting rid of a better player. This post concerns for that matter, Dobbin, so how exactly other than pointless non sequitur is my post "an absolutely pointless moan?"

The absolute standard is not looking at Dobbin at Everton as it's more about picturing him in a good side like Villa. He will get more chances at Villa such as cup runs and offers depth for Europe, something like come on for the last 15 minutes.

A word to the wise, we need players who contribute assists and goals.

Ryan Holroyd
7 Posted 23/06/2024 at 15:24:30
7 assists playing in… let me see… League One! 😂
Dennis Stevens
8 Posted 23/06/2024 at 15:37:31
I think our new signing is standing part way up the steps to the pitch, John, maybe that's why he looks small.
Shaun Laycock
9 Posted 23/06/2024 at 17:26:11
Good luck fella… unlucky with injuries.

Hope he does something at Villa. ٧M in the profit column.

Kieran Kinsella
10 Posted 23/06/2024 at 17:48:28
Good luck to him. He's got some talent.
Ben King
11 Posted 23/06/2024 at 18:05:29
PSR is a nonsense when it incentivises selling homegrown players. An absolute farce.

Hopefully Dobbin has a great career. Shame it won't be with us after all the investment but a pretty decent fee.

Are the days of being able to see home grown players come through and live the dream over in the short- to medium-term?

Such a shame.

Ajay Gopal
12 Posted 23/06/2024 at 18:42:13
There is absolutely no logic or sense in the PSR rules. It needs to be scrapped immediately and replaced with something which prioritises creating a level playing field. I am gutted that we are forced to keep selling our best / most promising players. I wish Lewis Dobbin a glittering football career.
Dave Williams
13 Posted 23/06/2024 at 19:03:10
Shame. But this is how we must operate future- clever sales and buying younger players. This looks a good fee for a player who has looked physically lightweight to me and unlikely to get into our team.
Hope he does well there.
Frank Crewe
14 Posted 23/06/2024 at 19:05:34
It's always a little sad to see a young player we had high hopes for move on. But obviously Dyche and his coaching team didn't see him as part of his plans and we can only go along with their judgement. To be fair I didn't really think he was going to be that good anyway. He was ok but he was no superstar. Maybe Villa will get more out of him. We'll see.
Bill Fairfield
15 Posted 23/06/2024 at 19:08:52
Good luck Lewis.
Brent Stephens
16 Posted 23/06/2024 at 19:17:22
Watched a lot of Dobbin for the U23's. Saw him a couple of years ago at Chorley, in a pre-season friendly. A boy amongst men who could put themselves about. But he still came out of the game with credit. Loved him in the U23s, as was; hoped he could get more game time in the first team. I understand that the fight for points after the Premier League deducted us points, and the tightness of games that followed, meant that Dyche couldn't take too much of a chance with him. I don't think he let us or himself down when he did come on as sub.

Best of luck, Lewis.

Bill Watson
17 Posted 23/06/2024 at 19:32:01
If we sell D C-L to Newcastle for £50m and then immediately re-sign him for £50m then both clubs PSR issues will be solved.
D C-L will get two signing on fees for his trouble!
What a nonsense PSR is.
John Charles
18 Posted 23/06/2024 at 19:39:12
I never saw anything in Dobbin to suggest he is anything other than an average player.

He will make a decent living from football but if we are ganging our hopes on a player of his quality we are really in trouble.

Good look to him but I would bet my hard-earned money he will be a Championship player within 5 years.

Mike Hayes
19 Posted 23/06/2024 at 20:04:18
Agree with Brian Williams - saw him in a few U23 games and was pretty good - had we been in a decent position in the league last season, he would have got more game time great goal against Chelsea 💙
Tony Abrahams
20 Posted 23/06/2024 at 20:05:07
This thread has already learned me something after reading a few of the posts bemoaning that PSR, is nonsensical and a farce, when you have got to start selling home grown players.

With a little thought, you begin to realize that this is just another way of the bigger and richer clubs pulling away from the rest.

I remember Guardiola saying that City could only afford Jack Grealish, and stay inside the boundaries, by selling a few of their academy kids, but like Chelsea and Liverpool, their academy's have been set up to create another source of income.

Good luck to Lewis Dobbin, but I think he's definitely reached a stage in his career where he needs to start playing football on a regular basis, if he's going to develop and improve.

Nick Strong
21 Posted 23/06/2024 at 20:48:48
I don't think it's a good move for him, if he's not getting game time with us he will be getting less at villa.
He has got good pace something we are seriously lacking hope he's got someone lined up to replace him
Anish Dosani
22 Posted 23/06/2024 at 21:25:29
Dyche doesn't trust our youth team players and they'll all leave, as they won't see a pathway to first-team football.

Simms and Cannon left for 㾹.5M, and we bought Beto and Chermiti for 㿙M instead. I'd like to actually give the youth team players a proper chance.

Robert Tressell
23 Posted 23/06/2024 at 21:29:15
Strongly expect Villa will put him on loan in the Championship - which is where he needs to be for his development.

Even if it is a PR fiddle, 㾶M is an excellent bit of business for us. Really hope he does well.

Philip Bunting
24 Posted 23/06/2024 at 22:32:20
Wish Dobbin all the best but I don't think he will make the grade at premier league level. Followed him at Derby on loan where he got plenty of game time but scored very very few. Never been prolific so believe this is a great piece of business to be honest.
Tony Abrahams
25 Posted 24/06/2024 at 08:08:47
I think it's in the 50/50 bracket Philip, basing it on the one game I saw Dobbin play for Derby, because he simply glides past people, when he's in the mood.

Why do you think Everton, are selling young players and then signing young players from other teams Anish?

Andrew Merrick
26 Posted 24/06/2024 at 14:11:36
BBC running an article about PSR swap weekend...
Everton, Villa, Chelsea and Newcastle all mentioned...
Reference made to another prem club not being happy about this Forest maybe? or one of the big 6?
Clive Rogers
27 Posted 24/06/2024 at 15:12:12
Can't help but think that Dobbin wasn't helped to progress at Everton. He was consistently used as a substitute for just a few minutes even after scoring against Chelsea. It will serve the club right if he is a big success.
Joe McMahon
28 Posted 24/06/2024 at 15:46:46
I too agree Clive, no real run in the team. JJ Kenny and Tom Davies had plenty of chances, there is no consistency. Sean Dyche did very well in the end last season but its so frustrating his use of substitutions particularly reminds me if Steve Clarke managing Scotland games. Players cannot do it all in the last 5 minutes of a match.
Clive Rogers
29 Posted 24/06/2024 at 16:24:39
Joe, yes they need at least 20 mins minimum to make any sort of impact. Dyche doesn't seem to have much faith in developing youngsters, although fighting relegation doesn't help.
Lewis Barclay
30 Posted 24/06/2024 at 17:20:28
Regarding the “PSR swaps”:

“Rules are for the obedience of fools and for the interpretation of wise men” - Colin Chapman.

Brian Williams
31 Posted 28/06/2024 at 13:18:19
We've lacked creativity in midfield for a long time.

We've swapped a bit part player for a 6-foot midfielder with the ability to create.

He's represented England at U19s and U20s.

To say Villa would never let a player go they want is naive in the extreme.

Have to agree with the "pointless moan" comment.

James Flynn
32 Posted 28/06/2024 at 13:36:28
Ben,

"Why don't you research ahead of posting??"

Set an example for John and take your own advice.

Dobbin – 12 appearances, 1 goal.

Iroegbunam – 9 appearances, 0 goal.

Neither did much for their First Team.

Steve Brown
33 Posted 28/06/2024 at 14:19:01
Ben, here is a fact for you. I have read all the 1 goal in 12 appearances quotes to cast a negative slant on Lewis's contribution last season. His total playing time in the Premier League last season was 222 minutes. Was he supposed to supply goals and assists while sat on his arse?

I hope Tim Iroegbunam proves a good buy for Everton. But I am guessing that most Blues fans (including Ben, Ryan and Brian) had no clue about him when he signed and the “great buy” lines come from watching clips on YouTube or playing as Aston Villa on FIFA 2023. He played 157 minutes last season, and contributed 0 goals and 0 assists. The assessment that he is “a 6-foot midfielder with the ability to create?”. Well, I guess he really is 6ft.

John, I agree with you that it was a short-sighted mistake to sell Lewis Dobbin. Quoting his contribution with Derby is relevant as he had a continuous stretch of games when on loan.

We have sold just about every player capable of supplying goals and assists in the last 3 years – James, Richarlison, Iwobi, Gordon, Simms, Cannon, Dobbins and potentially Calvert-Lewin – absolutely driven by the need to bring in transfer fees due to our finances.

If we didn't need to sell before 30 June to stabilise our PSR position, then I think we would not have considered selling Lewis. It shows how screwed the rules are that clubs now see it as more advantageous to sell academy players and take a punt on an unknown quantity.

Brian Williams
34 Posted 28/06/2024 at 14:44:08
Steve. You guess wrong! ;-)

And I'm prepared to give the lad a chance in having the ability to create for us rather than do him down before he's kicked a ball for us but hey if that's your bag, you're not alone on here.

Steve Brown
35 Posted 28/06/2024 at 14:45:03
Sure, Brian.

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