Who is the definitive star of Everton’s Premier League era? Is it Wayne Rooney, who was so obviously special, right from the get-go?
Or perhaps it was Romelu Lukaku, whose goalscoring feats at Goodison Park impelled Manchester United to fork out £90m to sign him, maybe giddy at the thought of replicating their near £30m signing of Rooney some 13 years earlier.
Tim Cahill would be another forward of genuine quality who is still held in fond memory, while Gareth Barry and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta form a midfield to be reckoned with – both thrived in the engine room.
Who else? Phil Jagielka completed 385 appearances for the Toffees and was a “real leader” for the club, as pundit Alan Shearer once praised him.
However, Everton’s finest player of the Premier League era may well be Leighton Baines, whose absence on the blue half of Merseyside is still keenly felt.
Leighton Baines' legend status
Captain, leader legend. Baines was quite the player for Everton, plying his craft with the Goodison Park side across a 13-year period and amassing 420 appearances, many of which with the captain’s band enclosed around his arm.
He posted 39 goals and 63 assists across so many seasons, with his ball-playing ability and dependability on the left side of the backline marking him as one of the finest defenders in the country.
Indeed praised as an “Everton legend” with “a wand of a left foot” by former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillip, his devoted service to the Everton cause is a fact that remains rooted deep in the club’s fanbase to this day. Oh, he didn’t win any silverware but his legacy runs through deeper channels.
Baines, who completed 30 caps for England, retired as a Toffee, closing his impressive career in 2020. The 39-year-old had slipped into the margins of the Everton first team across his final few campaigns and the club was stocked by Lucas Digne.
The Frenchman now plays for Aston Villa, however, and it’s a real shame that youngster Antonee Robinson was not afforded more of a chance to show his skills as a Blue, with the Fulham left-back now thriving as one of the finest in the game.
When Everton had Antonee Robinson
Whilst an Everton youngster, Robinson forced his way into David Unsworth’s U21 side in 2014/15 after enduring a torrid time as he recovered from a knee injury.
The talent was obvious, and he was awarded the U18 Players’ Player of the Season award, but it was clear that he was going to need to move away to establish himself, completing loan spells with Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic but never making his senior debut for the Merseysiders.
And so, in 2019, he transferred to Wigan in a deal worth just £2m, with Everton’s manager, Marco Silva, seemingly overlooking the player’s potential. This was one year before Baines would hang up the boots, curiously having arrived at Everton from Wigan himself way back when, in a move worth around £6m.
After spending several years with the Tics, Robinson found a home at Craven Cottage and has since gone from strength to strength.
For Everton, it’s frustrating to watch a talent neglected turn into something special, and though he’s not plying his trade for one of the biggest clubs on the continent, his performances for Fulham speak of his elite-level quality.
Antonee Robinson's market value in 2024
Robinson, nicknamed Jedi, signed a new long-term contract with Fulham before the summer and has now chalked up 161 appearances, scoring three goals and supplying 15 assists, also now a 47-cap international with USMNT.
The 27-year-old’s efforts over the past several years with Fulham – curiously rising to the fore under the man who once discarded him as a nobody: Silva – have seen him etched onto the watch lists of some of the Premier League’s finest.
For example, Manchester United, soon to be led by Ruben Amorim, has been tempted to lodge an official offer. Indeed, only last month, the Milton Keynes-born defender was linked with a move, with Fulham said to be fielding enquiries worth £40m.
This is a staggering rise and one that marks Everton’s blunder in a gloomy colour. Not only is he now worth £38m more than the paltry price that the Toffees allowed him to leave for, which stands as a 1900% rise in market value, but Robinson is also regarded as “one of the best left-backs in the world”, as noted above.
Having played an instrumental part in Fulham’s dramatic late victory over London rivals Brentford last weekend, propelling the Cottagers back into the top half of the standings, he commanded attention from awestruck onlookers, many of whom were incredulous about his not playing for a team challenging for titles.
Reporter Kyle Bonn was of this opinion, describing him as an “incredible player” and saying: “It remains astonishing that a Champions League club has not snatched up Antonee Robinson.”
Honestly, just take a look at his statistical roundedness, as portrayed through his metrics in the English top flight this season. he’s creative, combative and quick, dominating down the left flank and doing so with panache.
Assists
0.30
Top 4%
Progressive carries
2.70
Top 12%
Successful take-ons
1.20
Top 12%
Progressive passes (rec)
7.00
Top 7%
Tackles
3.20
Top 12%
Interceptions
1.60
Top 12%
Clearances
3.80
Top 10%
Everton’s left side is something that could use some work, it’s just a real shame that more trust was not held in Robinson’s potential, for he is now flourishing elsewhere.
Everton hit gold selling £14m ace who's now worth less than 50% of the squad
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