Garbutt has signed a new contract at Goodison Park, committing himself to the Toffees until 2020.
Promising Everton defender Luke Garbutt sees a bright future for the club after committing himself to a new contract at Goodison Park.
The 22-year-old has signed a deal that ties him down until 2020, and is quoted by the Liverpool Echo as saying that the experiencing difficulties in the Premier League last season, combined with their run to the last-16 of the Europa League, will make the current Toffees side stronger.
He said: “Last season was great for me in continuing my development, my personal highlight being the Europa League adventure as I gained a lot of experience in those games playing against top quality opposition.
“Everything we went through last season and the experience we gained as a group will only make us stronger as a team ahead of the new season.
“And with all the young players we’ve got such as Rom [Lukaku], Ross [Barkley] and [John] Stonesy – all of them key players, too, the future of the club couldn’t be more promising.”
The left-back has often deputised for the established Leighton Baines over the past 12 months, and given the extra commitments the Toffees had last season in Europe, it was easier for Roberto Martinez to give Garbutt regular first-team opportunities.
This season may be a little different, given the option of playing Garbutt in Europe is no longer there, so his opportunities may become more limited.
However, some have suggested that the European campaign Everton embarked on in 2014/15 hindered their domestic performance, therefore they couldn’t challenge for a Champions League place like they did the season before.
Garbutt also mentions three players who will be key next term, two of whom have been the subject of speculation in Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley – with some murmurs suggesting Lukaku wants Champions League football, as per Sky Sports, while Barkley could be attracting the interest of other clubs, as reported by the Guardian – but those reports seem to have died down of late.
Either way, Garbutt seems to have impressed his manager, and will want to impress even more when he gets another opportunity in the near future.
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