Preston North End starlet Lewis Leigh has opened up about his early years at Liverpool amid reports suggesting he could return to Merseyside with Everton, speaking to the Lancashire Evening Post.
Now, we don’t want to pile even more pressure on a talented midfielder who emerged in recent weeks as one of the most coveted young players in the Football League but, if Leigh was to join Everton in 2022, there would certainly be shades of the way Jadon Sancho’s career has panned out.
Sancho, of course, honed his talents at Manchester City before returning to the north west in the red of United via a spell at Borussia Dortmund.
And Leigh could be about to do something similar, albeit without the requirement for a £73 million transfer fee – from Liverpool to Everton via Preston.
According to Football London, Everton have joined Premier League rivals Arsenal, Leicester City and West Ham United in the race for a tenacious yet technically gifted midfielder.
Could former Liverpool starlet Leigh join Everton?
“I’d previously been at Liverpool and when that went sideways and Preston became interested, this was where I wanted to be,” says Leigh, who has been compared to former Toffees enforcer James McCarthy by North End coach Frankie McAvoy.
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“I was at Liverpool from a really young age. I was only three-and-a-half when my dad took me for a kick-about at the UCLan Sports Arena and I ended up being at Liverpool until I was 14.”
It’s not certain why things didn’t work out on the red side of Stanley Park. But, if Leigh can force his way into the Preston first team in the next few months, early exposure to senior football will do his development no harm at all.
“This season, my aim is to establish myself in the squad, get used to training every day at this level, and impress the coaching staff,” Leigh adds.
“As a midfielder, I want to do a bit of everything. I like to get stuck in but I’m happy to play as a defensive midfielder or an attacking one.”
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