Everton confirm Anthony Evans has joined SC Paderborn 07 on a permanent deal – their 12th departure of the season. The 21-year-old failed to make a first-team appearance at Everton and was out of contract in July, so it was clear he had no future on Merseyside.
Evans will now ply his trade in the Bundesliga, following in the footsteps of Jonjoe Kenny who joined Schalke 04 on loan last summer. Paderborn currently sit 17th in the German top-flight with 15 points from 19 games this season, so Evans may have his work cut out.
Only Vfl Wolfsburg (20) and Fortuna Duesseldorf (18) have scored fewer league goals that Paderborn (23), so their interest in Evans was likely to inject some much-needed creativity into the side – the attacking-midfielder contributed 11 goals in 15 games for Everton u23s this season.
Evans has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal at the Benteler Arena and will now have the likes of Abdelhamid Sabiri, Marlon Ritter and Sebastian Vasiliadis for competition in the playmaker role.
Keeping Paderborn in the Bundesliga is his biggest priority, however, so the former England u19 international has to hit the ground running.