Last 50 players to leave Everton and what happened next
How the players who have departed Goodison Park have fared elsewhere.
Ex-Blue Romelu Lukaku is thriving at Inter after a spell at Manchester United. (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
Everton have attracted plenty of praise for their transfer business over the summer.
After last season’s 12th-place finish Carlo Ancelotti invested shrewdly by bringing in six new faces including high-profile names such as James Rodriguez and Allan.
However, there have also been several departures in recent years at Goodison Park.
Here, we look at the last 50 to have departed the club, providing an update on their progress since leaving the Blues.
2015/16
John Lundstram
Academy graduate Lundstram had a succession of loan spells away from Everton before joining Oxford United in 2015.
After two years there, he signed for Sheffield United, playing a pivotal role in the Blades’ promotion to the Premier League in 2019.
However, the 26-year-old is expected to leave Bramall Lane at the end of the season after rejecting a contract extension.
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Antolin Alcaraz
The Paraguayan defender failed to make much of an impact after arriving from Wigan Athletic in 2013 and left to join Las Palmas two years later.
The 38-year-old now plays for Olimpia in his home country.
Sylvain Distin
Distin joined Bournemouth after being released following six years at Everton.
The veteran Frenchman spent one year with the Cherries before being released in 2016.
Ben McLaughlin
The Irish defender joined League of Ireland side Derry City after being released in 2015, but lasted only one year with the Candystripes.
McLaughlin has since played Gaelic football for Sean O’Mahony’s in his native County Louth in Ireland.
Francisco Junior
Signed from Benfica’s renowned youth academy in 2012, Junior left Everton in February 2016 with just one senior appearance to his name.
He later revealed his struggles in England were linked with the death of his mother but criticised Everton for failing to help him through a difficult period.
After two years with Stromsgodset in Norway, he plied his trade in Denmark and Israel before joining Romanian side Gaz Metan Medias ahead of the current season.
Steven Naismith
Naismith left Everton after three-and-a-half years to link up with Norwich City.
While he was unable to steer the Canaries to safety that season, he scored seven goals for them in all competitions during the 2016/17 campaign.
Now 34, he is into his fourth season at Hearts, who are currently in the Scottish Championship.
Steven Naismith is currently at Hearts. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Curtis Langton
The defender now plays his football for Denbigh Town in the third tier of Welsh football.
2016/17
John Stones
Stones became Everton’s most expensive departure when he joined Manchester City for £50m in 2016 after three years at Goodison Park.
The 26-year-old centre-back has since helped City win two Premier League titles but currently finds himself down the pecking order under Pep Guardiola.
Darron Gibson
The Irish midfielder left Everton in January 2017 having only managed 69 appearances in five-and-a-half injury-hit seasons with the Blues.
Gibson joined Sunderland but left in March 2018 two weeks after being charged with driving with excess alcohol.
The 33-year-old now plays for Salford City having also spent a single season at Wigan.
Bryan Oviedo
Oviedo joined Sunderland on the same day as Gibson and spent two years at the Stadium of Light before joining Copenhagen in 2019 having suffered back-to-back relegations with the Black Cats.
Steven Pienaar
A popular figure among Everton fans having made more than 200 appearances over two spells at the club, Pienaar reunited with former Blues boss David Moyes at Sunderland in 2016.
However, he returned to his native South Africa with Bidvest Wits after just a year in the North East before retiring in March 2018.
Tim Howard
A long-time stalwart in the Everton goal, Howard ended his 10-year stay on the blue half of Merseyside when he joined Colorado Rapids in 2016.
After four seasons there, he joined second-tier side Memphis 901 and is still going strong at 41.
Felipe Mattioni
Signed from Espanyol in 2015, the full-back spent time on loan at Doncaster Rovers before leaving to join Boa Esporte Clube in Brazil.
The 32-year-old is currently on the books at EC Sao Jose in the third tier of Brazilian football.
Leon Osman
An Everton legend, Osman hung up his boots after 16 years and 433 appearances for the Blues.
Since retiring, the two-time England international has made regular media appearances on Sky Sports News, talkSPORT and the BBC.
Tony Hibbert
Another stalwart, one-club man Hibbert drew the curtain on his career shortly after being released in 2016.
However, the former right-back later turned out for Sunday League side Hares in the South Lancashire League in 2017.
2017/18
Romelu Lukaku
The Belgian striker replaced Stones as Everton’s most expensive departure when he joined Manchester United for a whopping £75m in 2017.
Despite a productive first year at Old Trafford that yielded 27 goals, Lukaku left after his second season to join Inter Milan, proceeding to strike 34 times in his debut campaign in Italy.
The 27-year-old has started the 2020/21 season in similarly devastating form, too, as he looks to help Inter end Juventus’ Serie A dominance.
Ross Barkley
Following a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, Barkley left Everton to join Chelsea in January 2018.
The attacking midfielder struggled to nail down a starting place during his time at Stamford Bridge, however, but has impressed during the early stages of his loan spell at Aston Villa this season, scoring on each of his first two starts.
Gerard Deulofeu
Deulofeu joined Barcelona in the summer of 2017 having spent the last six months of his two-year spell at Everton on loan at AC Milan.
After just six months at the Camp Nou, he returned to England on loan with Watford before signing on a permanent basis for the Hornets.
The winger enjoyed an excellent 2018/19 season, scoring 12 goals in all competitions as Watford reached the FA Cup final, but joined Udinese on loan in October following the Vicarage Road outfit’s relegation to the Championship.
Gerard Deulofeu in action for Udinese. (Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Tom Cleverley
After falling down the pecking order under Ronald Koeman, the former Manchester United midfielder joined Watford in January 2017 until the end of the season having spent the 2009/10 season on loan at Vicarage Road.
While he has had his injury troubles, the 31-year-old remains a key figure for the Hornets.
Aaron Lennon
Like Cleverley, Lennon was deemed surplus to requirements by Koeman and joined Burnley in January 2018.
Having appeared sporadically during his two-and-a-half years at Turf Moor, the former Tottenham Hotspur winger was released and joined Kayserispor in Turkey.
Gareth Barry
A first-team regular during his three years at Goodison Park, Barry moved to West Bromwich Albion in 2017, and while he was released in July 2019, the Baggies re-signed him four months later until the end of the 2019/20 campaign.
Barry retired in August after leaving the Hawthorns for a second time with a record 653 Premier League appearances to his name for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton and West Brom.
Aiden McGeady
McGeady’s Everton career never truly achieved lift-off and he left to join Sunderland in 2017 having spent time on loan at Sheffield Wednesday and Preston North End.
The Republic of Ireland international was unable to steer the Black Cats away from relegation to League One in 2018 but remains at the Stadium of Light after spending the second half of the 2019/20 season on loan at Charlton Athletic.
Leandro Rodriguez
The Uruguayan forward made one late cameo as an Everton player in the FA Cup in January 2016 before returning to South America with Danubio in 2017.
The 27-year-old can now be found in the second tier of Mexican football with Alebrijes de Oaxaca.
Conor McAleny
A product of Everton’s youth academy, the striker made the switch to Fleetwood Town in 2017 after several loan spells in the lower leagues.
McAleny was signed by Oldham Athletic in August 2020.
Arouna Kone
After a brief flurry of goals in the 2015/16 season, Kone fell out of favour under Koeman before being released at the end of the 2016/17 season.
The former Ivory Coast international has found the back of the net regularly since joining Turkish side Sivasspor, though, with 31 goals in his first three seasons.
2018/19
Davy Klaassen
Signed amid much fanfare for £23m, Klaassen failed to meet expectations during his solitary season at Goodison Park before joining Werder Bremen.
After two successful seasons in the Bundesliga, which yielded 16 goals, he returned to boyhood club Ajax in October.
Ramiro Funes Mori
The injury-prone Argentine joined Villarreal in 2018 and made 31 appearances during his first season in Spain before succumbing to more fitness woes during the 2019/20 campaign.
The 29-year-old finds himself behind Raul Albio and Pau Torres for Unai Emery’s side.
Tyias Browning
The Liverpool-born defender left England for China when he joined Guangzhou Evergrande in January 2019.
Browning, who has a Chinese grandfather, can turn out for the China national team having become a naturalised Chinese citizen.
Conor Grant
The 25-year-old midfielder, who failed to make a senior appearance for Everton, remains at Plymouth Argyle having joined the Pilgrims in 2018.
Joel Robles
Having lost his place to Jordan Pickford, Robles joined Real Betis after his Everton contract expired following the
