Jonathan Nsangou made his Under-21s debut at just 15 years of age against Aston Villa
It was a late cameo but a notable one from the attacking starlet. When Paul Tait introduced him late in the second half, he was giving a debut to a 15-year-old. While the U21s is now a competition for 21-year-olds in name only given most of the older academy talents in Premier League 2 have sought senior experience on loan, it still represented a significant step up – a leap of two age groups to compete with players who have trained with their first teams.
Unsurprisingly, Nsangou looked youthful on a pitch dominated by 18 and 19-year-olds but he did not look daunted, regularly going in search of the ball, making himself available and forming part of the press that led to Beaumont-Clark’s goal.
It was a big moment for the youngster, but not the first. Earlier this season he trained with the Blues first team squad at the Halewood training complex – a genuine case of being a boy playing against men and one that highlighted how highly thought of he is.
He made his debut for the U18s earlier this year, playing against the likes of Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers and even made it onto the pitch against Wigan Athletic in the first match ever played at Hill Dickinson Stadium, under the lights in February when the club held its first test event on the waterfront.
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Involved in the England youth setup – he scored a hat-trick in an intra-squad friendly last season – he is part of a talented core developing through the academy.
That includes players like goalkeeper Douglass Lukjanciks, who at 17 made his England U19s debut in the last international break – alongside Harrison Armstrong, who has already clocked up several first team appearance for Everton and is now loan at Preston.
Lukjanciks was on the bench for the U21s on Friday then saved a penalty for the U18s the following day. The teenager is an example of someone who has done their growing up on Merseyside – he joined Everton at U12s level. There is a promising group of additions to the academy who are also making an impact. Two of them played on Saturday – 17-year-old Justin Clarke, who caught the eye for the first team in pre-season and Braiden Graham, another 17-year-old and a forward whose impressive goalscoring efforts last year have continued into this season. Clarke was signed from AFC Wimbledon 12 months ago and Graham, who scored Everton’s first with a superb individual goal against Villa, joined from Linfield a few months earlier.
