The Toffees defender is impressing for Colombia at the Copa America and his compatriot – an Aston Villa cult hero – likes what he sees.
Everton defender Yerry Mina will be “a very good asset” for the Premier League club, according to his fellow Colombian – and Aston Villa cult hero – Juan Pablo Angel, in conversation with the official Toffees website.
The 24-year-old joined the Goodison Park outfit from Barcelona in the summer of 2018 for fee reported by BBC Sport as being around £27million, but his first season at the club was hampered by injuries.
Mina’s debut did not come until November, coming off the substitutes’ bench against Brighton & Hove Albion, and although he did enjoy a good run in the first team, the latter stages of his season were disrupted also (Transfermarkt).
Nonetheless, the 195cm (6ft 5in) ace put in promising performances when fit, suggesting he was acclimatising to English football fairly well, and is currently impressing at the Copa America, helping subdue Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero in a 2-0 win over Argentina on Saturday.
Angel, who was at Aston Villa between 2001 and 2007, actually finished his career with Atletico Nacional in his homeland and played his final match, in December 2014, against an Independiente Santa Fe side whose backline featured Mina (official Everton website).
“It think it was a smart move [joining Everton],” Angel told the official Everton website. “If he wasn’t going to play a huge amount of football for Barcelona that would have slowed his career. The move to Everton, I think, will help him grow as a player and enable him to position himself on a big stage.
“The initial challenge for a foreign player moving to England is to adjust to life in a new country and the different style of football but when I have seen his matches he has looked comfortable. He is strong and athletic and capable of handling strikers who have a physical presence, which is important in England. And as he adjusts to the physicality and pace of the Premier League, I think he will be a very good asset for Everton.”
Mina and Angel’s Colombia is in line to book a Copa America quarter-final spot with victory over Qatar in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.
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