Everton fans were pleased to see hot prospect Ellis Simms sign a new contract this week, keeping him at Goodison Park until the end of June 2024.
The 20-year-old's previous deal was due to run out at the end of the season and the Blues were keen to tie him down to new terms.
The new deal was rightfully greeted with positivity from Evertonians, despite the fact there’s still an element of the unknown around Simms given that he’s still not yet featured competitively for the Everton first team.
The 20-year-old scored an impressive 52 goals for the club’s under-18 and u-23 sides, and that led to him securing a loan move to League One Blackpool last January.
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Yet a groin injury suffered at the end of that campaign meant he missed Blackpool’s play-off final fixture at Wembley, and also the start of this season back at Everton too, unfortunate given first-team opportunities may have come his way with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s extended spell on the sideline.
Though still an unknown at senior level, his time at Blackpool prior to his injury did at least provide us with an insight into both the player he is, and the one he could yet become.
During his time with the Seasiders, Simms found the back of the net on ten occasions. That broke down to an average of 0.55 goals per 90 - only five players in League One that season could better that average.
Based on their eventual promotion, it won’t be a surprise to note that Blackpool were one of the more creative sides in the division too, hitting the joint-fourth highest number of shots across this season.
This benefited Simms who was presented with roughly 2.72 shots on goal per 90, which is a decent amount. For comparison, Calvert-Lewin was averaging 2.31 shots at Everton last season.
From the chances bestowed to him, Simms exhibited himself to be a fairly accurate shooter. Over half his efforts at least hit the target, and his goal total of then indicated that he performed in line with his xG total of 9.38.
For those unfamiliar, xG basically measures chance quality. Players scoring fewer goals than their xG could be labelled as wasteful or unlucky, whilst those overperforming could be considered elite finishers or maybe even a bit fortunate.
Though Simms boasts a strong physical profile for his age, and is a decent size at 6t, the bulk of his goals came thanks to smart runs of the shoulders of defenders, illustrating his clever movement and good turn of pace.
And his fine form over his six months with Blackpool had manager Neil Critchley hoping that another deal could have been struck for Simms this season with his team back in the Championship after their promotion, although the forward's injury did put somewhat of a spanner in those plans, as he admitted.
Speaking in July he said: “Ellis has had an operation, so he will be out for a lengthy period of time.
"When the players aren’t yours, the decision isn’t yours either because you’re governed by what other clubs think about them and decide. It’s never in your hands. We’ll keep an eye on him, that’s for certain.”
Another loan move back to Blackpool who clearly value the youngster could be hugely beneficial for his development, especially now they’re in a more competitive division.
However, having made Everton’s matchday squad three times already since returning from his injury, there’s a case to be made that a loan move may not be needed for Simms, and instead, Everton fans may get to watch him on the pitch for the Blues sooner rather than later.
