Antony Evans: Who is Paderborn’s new English attacker from Everton?
Paderborn’s bid to secure Bundesliga survival received a shot in the arm just before the close of the winter transfer window with the arrival of exciting English attacker Antony Evans from Everton. But who is he exactly?
Allow bundesliga.com to bring you up to speed.
Antony Evans
Age: 21
Club: Paderborn
Position: Attacking midfield / forward
Country: England (2 U19 caps)
Key stats
Born in the Liverpool suburb of Kirkby, Evans had a brief spell at Liverpool as a youngster before moving to cross-town rivals Everton at the age of nine. He swiftly rose up through the age categories and was considered such a prodigious talent that he was promoted to the U21s late in the 2014/15 season at the age of just 16. He underlined the faith shown in him the following campaign, registering three goals and one assist in 17 outings in the U21 Premier League.
Evans’ star continued to rise and in 2016/17 he became part of Everton’s U23s, scoring once in four games to contribute to the side lifting the Premier League 2 title that season. However, the right-footed attacker spent the majority of that campaign on loan at League 2 side Morecambe – in England’s fourth tier – scoring two goals in 14 appearances.
He returned to Everton in 2017/18 and was named U23 captain by coach David Unsworth. Evans notched another five goals in 19 games that season before going on loan to League 1 side Blackpool (in England’s third division) in 2018/19, making 10 appearances for the club. Yet to make an appearance for the Toffees’ senior side and with first-team opportunities hard to come by at Everton this season, he opted to join Paderborn in a bid to make his breakthrough as a professional.
Plays a bit like: Marco Reus
A nimble, right-footed attacker who can play in attacking midfield, wide on the left or up front, is excellent at set-pieces and scoring from distance, there is more than a little of the Marco Reus about Evans. If the 21-year-old can replicate even just a proportion of the Borussia Dortmund captain's productivity up front, Paderborn will have done very good business indeed.
Watch: Evans: "I want to help push Paderborn up the table"
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Did you know?
Evans made two appearances alongside current Schalke right-back Jonjoe Kenny for the Everton U23s last season, a 0-0 draw with Swansea’s U23s and a 1-0 defeat to their Merseyside rivals Liverpool. They also played together twice in 2017/18: a 1-0 reverse to Leicester City’s U23s and a 4-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur – a game in which RB Leipzig’s Ademola Lookman also featured.
What they’re saying
“I love working with him, he's a top talent and he shows his quality in the final third. He’s desperate to get on the ball so he drops deep at times, but that’s something we’ve been working on for four or five years! He's just desperate to get on the ball all the time.” – Everton U23 coach David Unsworth
“Antony is an absolute top talent. He’s got great potential and is very suited to our style of play. His strengths are his tireless running, very good set-pieces and his desire to go forward.”- Paderborn sporting director Martin Przondziono
“Everton’s all I’ve ever known. But I wanted a new challenge to come to Paderborn and develop even more. I try to create goals and chances and score as many as I can myself as well.” – Evans
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