Why a player 'released' by Everton is playing for the u23s today

There was a surprise name in Everton's u23 starting line-up to play Wolves this afternoon.

David Unsworth's Premier League 2 champions are playing their second game of the new campaign.

And Blues fans were a little taken aback to see midfielder Harry Charsley named in the team for the match.

Back in June when Everton published their retained list, it was confirmed that Charsley would not be getting a new deal.

But the youngster did not part ways entirely.

As the ECHO reported at the time, the plan was for the 22-year-old to remain at the club so he could recover from injury and look to find his next move.

Ademola Lookman celebrates his goal with Harry Charsley during the match between Apollon Limassol and Everton (Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)

And significant steps have now been taken as he makes a return to action today.

Charsley is a Premier League title winner at both u18s and u23s level with the Blues.

The u23s got their campaign underway with a 0-0 draw to Leicester City last week, and followed that with another 0-0 against Wolves today.