Grounds for OPTIMISM

MOYES' EUROPEAN AIM IN BLUES' NEW ERA THAT COULD NEGATE NEED TO SELL ACADEMY STARS

- By CHRIS BEESLEY ECHO Reporter [e-mail] @CBeesleyEcho

EVERTON manager David Moyes admits the lure of European football remains a big draw for players when responding to Francis Jeffers' suggestion that the Blues' move to their new stadium could eliminate the need to sell their best young talent.

Jeffers was one of the many former Blues paraded on the pitch following Goodison Park's final Premier League fixture on May 18.

His fellow former pupil at De la Salle School in Croxteth, Wayne Rooney, who displayed a 'Once a Blue, always a Blue,' t-shirt when scoring for Everton in an FA Youth Cup tie but joined Manchester United as an 18-year-old in 2004, was heckled when speaking during Goodison's 'End of an Era' ceremony.

Returning from Old Trafford as United's all-time leading goalscorer having won every major trophy in the game with the Red Devils, Rooney had a second playing spell with Everton in the 2017/18 season.