Everton confirmed on Friday afternoon that Luke Garbutt joined Ipswich Town on loan. The 26-year-old will spend the 2019/20 season at Portman Road and will be out of contract when the campaign comes to a close.
The £28k-per-week left-back may have to use his temporary stint at Ipswich as a chance to put himself in the shop window as it’s hard to see Garbutt having a future at Everton after his lack of playing time in recent years.
The 26-year-old made only 12 appearances in all competitions for the Toffees, the last of which came against Sunderland on May 9, 2015. He finds himself behind Lucas Digne, Leighton Baines and Brendan Galloway in the pecking order and is unlikely to feature for Everton again before his contract expires.
Garbutt has been on loan at Cheltenham Town (September 29, 2011 – May 31, 2012), Colchester United (September 13, 2013 – January 28, 2014), Fulham (July 25, 2015 – May 31, 2016), Wigan Athletic (August 16, 2016 – January 2, 2017) and Oxford United (July 2, 2018 – May 31, 2019).
The fact he’s being loaned out to League One for the second consecutive season shows he’s not up to the level for Everton.