Ellis Simms cannot stop scoring for Everton’s youth team and David Unsworth is a big fan.
Ellis Simms’ goal-scoring record at Everton this season is a joy to behold.
In just 10 games for the Toffees’ U18s, the prolific young striker has netted a remarkable 18 goals to establish himself as arguably the next bright young thing to emerge out of an academy that has produced a number of exciting prospects in the last few years.
The 17-year-old made the step up to the U23 side on Tuesday for a Premier League International Cup Clash against Bayern Munich; a game that elicited plenty of positives despite a heavy 4-1 defeat to the German giants.
Speaking to the club’s official website, U23 boss David Unsworth has paid tribute to the talented Simms and admitted that the teenager is working closely with Everton coach and former striker Francis Jeffers to hone his poaching talents.
“Ellis has been training with us for three or four weeks now and we felt he was ready for a start,” Unsworth said of Simms, whose appearance against Bayern was his first start in U23 football.
“He got a few shots away and he was unlucky not to score a couple of goals in the first half. He’ll get better, he is working closely with Franny Jeffers and he’ll continue to improve with his movement and team play.”
Like Simms, Jeffers started his career in Everton’s youth academy and scored 20 goals in 60 games for the Merseyside giants before sealing that ill-fated move to Arsenal back in 2001.
Whether Simms can follow in his coach’s footsteps and establish himself in Everton’s first-team in the coming years remains to be seen.
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