Monday, 17th June, 2013
New Everton manager Roberto Martinez has hailed the talent at the club’s youth academy, and has insisted that they need to nurture it.
The Toffees Under-18 side, under coach Kevin Sheedy, reached the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup last season, while the Under-21 side, coached by Alan Stubbs, enjoyed a 16-game unbeaten run in the second half of the campaign.
The Toffees were also the only club last term to have their Under-18s and Under-21s reach the knockout stage of the inaugural development league.
The former Wigan boss is now looking ahead to the development of these talents for further success in the English Premier League.
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“Any football club – it doesn’t matter where you are looking – relies on the home-grown talent and probably the biggest example in football now is Barcelona”, Martinez told Everton TV.
“I do feel that the talent we have in our football club is phenomenal and we need to make sure that we help that talent to develop and reach the levels that the modern game needs.
“That’s something that we are going to put a lot of attention, effort, time and a lot of finances – as we have been doing in the past – to make sure that happens.”
The Spaniard was appointed as the new manager at Goodison Park earlier this month. He guided the Latics to bag the coveted FA Cup in the 2012/13 season.
Looking ahead to continuing his success with his new club, Martinez is focused on developing the Finch Farm youth set-up and promoting youngsters to the first-team.
The Toffees finished sixth in the English top flight in the 2012/13 season, with 63 points – two above their Merseyside rivals Liverpool.
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