da pixbet： Everton have spent the past few seasons as if they are treading on thin ice, clutching onto their status as a Premier League outfit with a tenuous grip and seeking safety on the shore away from the murky abyss that lays below.
da bet7k： Despite this, the beacon of hope that continues to guide the Merseyside outfit toward a brighter future remains the Finch Farm academy, integral in ensuring Everton keep a foothold on Premier League prominence over the past several years.
Wayne Rooney plied his formative years on the blue half of Merseyside, while, more recently, Ross Barkley and Anthony Gordon have played roles for the club before seeking pastures new, perhaps an illustration of the current status of this prestigious English side, capable of more but unable to demonstrate its worth from the blades of grass on the Goodison Park pitch to the discordant boardroom, hitting too wide of the mark too often.
Barkley left his boyhood team for Chelsea in 2018 for £15m, with his once promising career deflating over the years spent away from Everton.
Gordon, comparatively, departed from the Toffees fold earlier this season, completing a £45m winter move to high-flying Newcastle United after handing in a transfer request and, while it is premature, is yet to impress on Tyneside.
One homegrown talent who might just be keen to flourish where his senior peers have floundered is Katia Kouyate, with the 19-year-old winger impressing at youth level this term.
Who is Katia Kouyate?
According to Everton's official website, Kouyate is "a dynamic attacker" who "possesses impressive speed, skill and power".
Across the duration of his career thus far, the Manchester-born forward, who is eligible to play for both England and Ivory Coast, has chalked up 50 displays for Everton's respective youth sides, registering ten direct goal contributions.
This season, having recovered from the detrimental injury that hindered his progress last term, Kouyate has scored two goals and two assists apiece from 12 starting appearances in the Premier League 2, with the teenage talent now considered to be apt for regular minutes among the club's U23 setup.
What is Kouyate's style of play?
Hailed for one "brilliant" recent piece of play by one Everton employee, Kouyate has also left U23s manager David Unsworth in awe, he said: "He showed some glimpses, some real flashes of pace and directness and power."
He bears similarities to the aforementioned Gordon, who was dubbed "frightening" by Boreham Wood boss Luke Garrard after Everton's 2-0 FA Cup victory against the non-league team last season.
As per The Telegraph, Gordon has been described as 'quick and direct, with stamina to go with it', and with Kouyate described as one of the Toffees' "brightest young prospects" by the Liverpool Echo's Chris Beesley, much as Gordon once was, a fresh new flanker from home soil could indeed burst to the fore.
It remains to be seen whether the 19-year-old can make the requisite adjustments to thrive at senior level for Sean Dyche's team, but if he can take a leaf out of Gordon's book, he might just find fruit in his endeavours and provide his club with a fresh dimension and a cause for optimism. A new star derived from the rich flow of Finch Farm talent.