Markelo signs on until 2022

Probably annoy a few on here. He's 21 and never really had a sniff at the first team yet.

One thing I noticed was he often had better second halves. I get the feeling that he found the U23 too a wee bit too easy, if that's the case a well-organised loan spell will be good and he should develop rapidly.

The cynic in me says that we're just going to loan him out to try to increase his value and sell him. However, in a year's time, he'll only have 1 year left under contract and his so transfer value will be reduced. Therefore a 3-year contract would seem to make more sense in order to protect his value.

If, on the other hand, he's considered a first-team prospect, I would have thought that a 3-year contract would be the minimum to protect our ‘rights' over him as a player. Otherwise, this time next year, his contract will be running down and he'll be able to engineer a move or higher wages.

Either way, 2 years seems like an odd number.

Either way, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years – the club can't win compared to ToffeeWeb Hindsighters.

Lyndon – can we keep this post to put up when Markelo signs on as a 1st teamer in 2022 or leaves?

Currently we have Markelo, Baningime and Adeniran all hoping for chances in the centre of midfield, but then we have Delph in front of them.

If we're serious about giving these players a chance, then we need to reduce our central midfield to around 3 senior players plus Davies. (Gomes, Gbamin and Sigurdsson at the moment, although I would like to replace Sigurdsson.) That will put them 3 fighting it out for the 5th place and the chance to impress when injuries, fatigue or suspensions kick in.

Sadly, if we keep 4 senior central midfielders, then they will likely never get a chance and will simply leave in a couple of years.

I expect to see him loaned out to Holland or Germany next season.

Kevin, we seem to have collected central midfielders in recent years, and none of them fit particularly well into a 4-4-2. I'm a bit perplexed about Baningime. He looked good three years ago but now we're asking Sigurdsson and Gomes to play his role (which really limits them) without giving him a chance. He hasn't even come on as hard-working fresh legs at the end of a game.

Does anyone know if Markelo is eligible to play in the Premier League at the moment? Surely he might as well be on the bench rather than a third goalkeeper.

Sam, I definitely think he'll be loaned out, but if the plan is to sell him, an extra year on the contract would increase his value. Presumably, we wouldn't even have to pay his wages if we found him a loan, which would assuage some of Phil's concerns.

It may seem like I'm putting a bit too much thought into a reserve player's contract, but I'm really looking at the wider issue of the ‘first-team pathway' for our young players.

Secondly, in terms of position and team tactics young forwards are generally given more game time as there is less risk, the emphasis on attacking the opposition. Defenders and keepers usually breaking through a good few years older.

But if your good enough, they will be given chances. I can only presume our fist team managers don't trust the young players to do a job, especially at the back, which is a shame but Gordon has taken his opportunity well.

Everyone wants the next Messi, Ronaldo etc but honestly I'm not sure Moyes, Sam and several other past managers would give a young Messi many games before they were 21 simply due to the tactics, formation, team they had to play in and Messi being so slight.

As for 2-years contracts it makes perfect sense. No point in training and then leaving after a year whilst we don't want to keep poor players longer than necessary.

If he proves himself he'll be offered a contract in 6 to 12 months. Otherwise, he'll have 12 months to try again, to find another club or become a free agent. Likewise, we can try and sell him if he refused an extension and/or loan him out.

Versatility is great, but I think the lad needs to be allowed to master one position. He's talented but I'm not sure he will make it. He needs a loan next season for sure.

In other words, Everton keep their options open and if his wage not covered by the loan is not exorbitant it could prove profitable.