It’s been an uncharacteristically fast start to the January transfer window for Everton.
The club announced the arrival of left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko from Dynamo Kiev last week, and he has been followed through the door by right-back Nathan Patterson.
Everton officials have been long-term admirers of the Rangers defender who has reportedly agreed personal terms with the club ahead of a £12million plus add ons transfer.
Patterson has attracted plenty of supporters since breaking into the Rangers first-team fold, and it’s easy to see why.
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Although just 20, he’s both physically imposing, standing at 6ft 2in, but also quick and athletic.
This makes him a tough defender to overcome, a point captured by his solid defensive duel success rate of 66% from all matches played within the Rangers first-team since breaking through.
It’s also made him a threatening attacking asset for the Scottish side. Initially under Steven Gerrard, and to a lesser extent more recently under new boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst, wing-backs have played a crucial attacking role for the Glasgow club.
Gerrard implemented a 4-3-3 with midfielders and occupying central areas and attackers rotating ahead. The emphasis was therefore on the wing-backs to provide the width and attacking threat down the flanks.
This suited Patterson perfectly. Most commonly on the right, although also used on the left, Patterson had success in exploiting space, regularly driving forward, clipping the ball beyond closing defenders and working himself into good crossing areas.
His proficiency in this regard has even seen him feature as a right-winger both for Rangers and Scotland's U21 side.
At Rangers, he has two goals and an assist to his name, and from that same aforementioned sample of appearances, he’s averaged 3.2 progressive runs and 3.2 crosses per 90.
For comparison, Seamus Coleman, the ageing Everton defender Patterson’s expected to succeed, has averaged just 1.1 and 1.7 per 90 in both those respective areas this season.
That’s an impressive overperformance against the Everton captain, even if Coleman is more restricted at times when playing in Rafa Benitez’s more defence-orientated structure.
There is a caveat to Patterson’s time at Rangers so far though, and this is that despite his ability, he’s often found playing time at Ibrox at a premium.
He has made only 15 starts across the last season and a half, which looks pretty unremarkable at first glance. Particularly given that that £11m is a large sum to pay upfront for a player who isn’t really a first-team regular for Rangers.
However, this is more as a result of who is ahead of him in the club’s pecking order, rather than a reflection of his own abilities.
At Rangers, James Tavernier is the primary right-back and also the club’s captain. He’s a dependable and consistent performer who rarely gets injured, making it hard for Patterson to dislodge the 30-year-old.
Yet make no mistake, Patterson is still highly-rated at the club, with both Gerrard and Van Bronckhorst speaking highly on the 20-year-old on more than one occasion.
He was on the path to becoming Tavernier’s successor, yet such a fee from Everton, one that breaks Rangers’ previous highest received transfer fee - Alan Hutton to Spurs for £8m in 2009 - clearly is just too good to turn down.
Whilst there's a fair bit of vexation around Goodison Park right now with league form faltering and Benitez’s position continually under scrutiny, Patterson’s arrival is a major piece of business for the club.
His ability combined with his age means that he can finally be the long-term solution to resolve what has been a problem position in the Everton squad for a number of years.
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