The Toffees midfielder was highly rated at Goodison Park but he’s not having a good season at present.
Everton midfielder Kieran Dowell left Goodison Park to much fanfare by the club he’d be joining on loan but the Toffees loanee’s stint has not gone according to plan so far.
The 21-year-old has come under criticism on a number of occasions from both Derby County fans – as per this reaction piece – and Rams boss Phillip Cocu, who made it clear that “he can do better and he has to do better… we can expect more from him” (Derby Telegraph).
To date, Dowell has made just six appearances for Derby, all of them in August, and since then he’s had to make do with a place on the bench for the most part, while not even making the squad for the League Cup loss to rivals Nottingham Forest (Transfermarkt).
On Monday, the Everton academy graduate found himself playing for the Derby Under-23s in their Premier League Cup clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s, a far cry from the start-of-season expectations that he would have a big impact for the Rams first team.
Dowell did have a good moment when he drew a save from the opposition goalkeeper on 33 minutes but in the end he would find himself on the losing side as Benny Ashley-Seal’s brace rendered Mason Bennett’s second-half goal a mere consolation.
It’s not particularly gone to plan at Everton either for Dowell, who’s been involved with the Blues first team since 2014, but to date he has only made five senior appearances for the club – and the last one in the Premier League was back in April 2016, a three-minute cameo against Bournemouth (Transfermarkt).
As reported by the official Rams website, Dowell idolised and sought to model his game on Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta, a cult hero at Goodison Park thanks to his impressive stint there between 2005 and 2011, and who also enjoyed bright spells at Rangers and Arsenal.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
