Luke Garbutt: competition for Daniels?

Those that have been tracing the football back pages for the latest AFCB possible targets should have come across the name of Luke Garbutt by now. The Everton and England U21 international has attracted interest from Liverpool, but if Roberto Martinez has his way the young defender will stay with Everton but is likely to be loaned out to AFCB, according to the Daily Star.

The establish Leyton Baines does not give that many opportunities for Garbutt to play in the top flight and a move to the south coast for a year could give him the kind of platform he needs to be a regular at Goodison. That means that he'll have to try and shift Charlie Daniels from his position at left back and while Ian Harte found that difficult to do last season, a fresh 22-year-old is the kind of prospect that should really give Charlie strong and direct competition. While the versatile Adam Smith has filled in on occasion as a left back, I prefer to see him on the right as a backup for Simon Francis. 

Who will be competing with Charlie Daniels at left back next season? 

While we have not seen many loan players at the club it seems that Eddie is prepared to add players on loan for this coming season. That keeps the transfer costs down and perhaps enables the club to get a few better players than they might otherwise for a high outlay. Garbutt is coming to the end of his contract though this summer and he could even consider a permanent move to the south coast. The potential for him playing for Liverpool is perhaps good from the point of view that he stays in Merseyside, but a new challenge at a club that is rising in talent, creativity and with a hungry young manager just might be hard for Luke Garbutt to resist.

There is not a long list of left backs and AFCB and Luke might fancy his chances of slotting into this team. He only made four appearances for the Toffees in the Premier League last season and while the Europa League will have been good experience for him it will be week-in, week-out football that he'll be after. Eddie Howe will need another left back after not renewing Ian Harte's contract and while Kieran Trippier has chosen to sign for Burnley, Garbutt is a signature that AFCB seem to be chasing hard for now.

Looking at the start of next season, Premier Talk spies that Micah Richards is back in favour - at least for Aston Villa.