James Garner has been linked with a potential move to Everton but just what might the Manchester United prospect offer Frank Lampard? The midfielder, who turned 21 in March, has spent the past season-and-a-half on loan at Nottingham Forest and he played in last week’s 1-0 victory over Huddersfield Town at Wembley in the Championship play-off final, a result that secured the East Midlanders’ return to the Premier League for the first time since 1999.
Steve Cooper’s side are likely to be keen to retain Garner’s services as they prepare for life in the top flight but the Mirror reports that with Old Trafford chiefs prepared to loan the player out again, a temporary switch to Goodison Park potentially fits the bill. Lampard wants to strengthen his midfield – a priority position along with centre-back – and a return to his native Merseyside could appeal to Birkenhead-born Garner, who made 49 appearances, scoring four goals this term, as a step up compared to going back to the City Ground again.
When it comes to defensive midfielders plying their trade in the Premier League this past season, Norwich City’s Matthias Normann is deemed to be the most similar in style to Garner with a score of 75% on Comparisonator’s Similarity Comparison with Newcastle United’s Jonjo Shelvey up next on 69% followed by Burnley’s Ashley Westwood (63%) and Southampton’s (58%) but a closer examination of the player’s game throws up plenty of food for thought. While obviously playing at a lower level, if inserted among players already operating in his position in the Premier League, Garner would lead the way when it came to shot assists (1.31 per game) compared to Ward-Prowse’s (1.1) and Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson’s 1.07.
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In terms of assists he would rank joint fifth with Henderson on 0.2 per 90 minutes with Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic the best in class on 0.32. The Croatian is also the only Premier League peer to better Garner when it comes to expected assists with his figures of 0.34 edging out the youngster on 0.32.
Lampard is hoping to improve Everton’s competency in possession so could be heartened by Garner’s 0.72 ball losses in his own half per game, numbers that would place him fifth in the Premier League behind Ward-Prowse (0.31) and are more efficient on an equivalent level than Henderson (0.73), West Ham United’s Declan Rice (0.81) or Manchester City’s Rodri (0.81). While the more hectic style in the Championship is perhaps reflected by Garner’s low equivalent placings for both passes per game (39.65) and successful passes per game (31.25) with him down in 39th spot in both category with numbers of less than half of the respective category leaders Henderson (83.59) and Rodri (75.56), he does make the most of the ball when he receives it given that he’d be eighth when it comes to key passes with 0.84 per game as opposed to the departing Manchester United man Paul Pogba who is top on 1.62.
When all parameters are combined, Garner’s average score of 95 on Comparisonator’s Passing Index would put him third if his numbers were transferred to the Premier League with just Ward-Prowse (122.78) and Westwood (112.21) faring better. Whether such promise is enough to tempt Lampard and new director of football Kevin Thelwell remains to be seen though but the general consensus is that Everton could do with more hungry, young players next season.
- Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.
