Nathan Patterson became Everton’s second signing of the January transfer window when he completed an £11million move from Rangers.
The 20-year-old right-back’s arrival comes hot on the heels of left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko’s recruitment from Dynamo Kyiv on New Year’s Day.
Scotland international Patterson has penned a five-and-a-half year deal but what can we learn from the photographs that show him in an Everton shirt for the first time?
READ MORE: Rafa faces Mkyolenko decision as Everton consider midfield switch
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3 and easy?
It’s intriguing to see that natural left-back Mykolenko did not take on the number 3 jersey but right-back Patterson – drafted in with the view to become club captain Seamus Coleman’s long-term successor – did.
Patterson can play on the left hand side – his last two starts for Rangers came on that flank in defence – so his arrival might raise even more question marks about Lucas Digne’s future.
He takes on the shirt last worn by Leighton Baines, arguably Everton’s best player in his position since England World Cup winner Ray Wilson, who retired at the end of the 2019/20 season.
Previous players to have the squad number 3 at Everton are Patterson’s compatriot Gary Naysmith, Alessandro Pistone, Michael Ball - who moved in the opposite direction to Patterson from Goodison to Ibrox - and Andy Hinchcliffe.
All smiles
With just one win from their last 12 matches, there hasn’t been much to cheer about at Goodison Park of late.
But Patterson was grinning like the cat that got the cream after his big move south of the border.
Rafa Benitez of course wanted him last summer but the player himself looked made up to be swapping the blue of Rangers for that of Everton even though it meant departing his boyhood club in his native Glasgow.
Dave on duty
Unlike at some of his previous clubs – including neighbours Liverpool where he would regularly join new signings – Benitez hasn’t been snapped greeting any of his Everton recruits as of yet.
That trend continued here but with director of football Marcel Brands – once known for his variety of outfits when posing alongside new signings – having now departed the club, there was instead the reassuring presence of seeing Everton’s well-respected Head of Football Operations and Club Secretary Dave Harrison reprising a familiar role next to Patterson and the paperwork.
