Everton defender Cuco Martina has been sent out on loan to Championship outfit Stoke City.
There is no obvious place in Everton’s starting XI for Cuco Martina anymore.
Lucas Digne has arrived from Barcelona as Leighton Baines’ long-term successor at left-back while Seamus Coleman is now fully fit and backed up by the promising youngster Jonjoe Kenny. Perhaps this explains why Everton were willing to let Martina leave on loan.
Gary Rowett’s Stoke City have signed the full-back on a loan deal until the end of the season, having become surplus to requirements at Goodison Park.
But have the Toffees made a mistake? Yes, Martina is not one of the most gifted players in Marco Silva’s squad but, as the old saying goes, it is a team game. And Martina could have been a valuable member of Silva’s roster.
After all, there is no-one else at Everton’s disposal capable of playing both at right-back and left-back.
Should Baines or Coleman suffer a recurrence of those long-term injuries, should Digne struggle to adapt to life in a new country or should Kenny fail to learn from the mistakes of an often brutal breakthrough season, Martina would have offered plenty of experience and versatility across the back four.
As it stands, however, it seems that Everton have got rid of the archetypal utility man.
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