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Opinion: Pre-season treatment could spell the end for £15k-per-week Everton man

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Matthew Pennington has an uncertain future at Everton this summer after being deemed surplus to requirements under Marco Silva. The 24-year-old has been on the periphery at Goodison Park and his absence in pre-season is evidence that his time at Everton is coming to an end.

Since rising through the youth ranks to the first-team in 2016, Pennington has gone on to make nine appearances in all competitions. The £15k-per-week defender’s last outing for Everton came against Leicester City on April 9, 2017, so it’s hard to see him sticking around for the final year of his contract.

Silva hasn’t given Pennington a single minute of football during pre-season either, instead preferring Mason Holgate, Lewis Gibson and Michael Keane at centre-back. The Englishman was left out of the squad against Kariobangi Sharks on July 7 and FC Sion on July 14, and was an unused substitute against AS Monaco on July 19.

Pennington will be behind Keane, Holgate and Yerry Mina in the pecking order next season, and could have added competition for places if Kurt Zouma joins from Chelsea. His last outing for Everton came more than two years ago and he’s only been deemed good enough to join Championship sides on loan ever since – Leeds United (July 19, 2017 – May 31, 2018) and Ipswich Town (August 31, 2018 – May 31, 2019).

Read Crippy Cooke’s previous article

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.