David Moyes has shed light on the situation of Adam Aznou, the 19-year-old Moroccan left-back who joined Everton from Bayern Munich this summer. The manager believes the youngster still needs time before pushing for a first-team spot.
Speaking to the press, Moyes admitted Aznou was “not yet ready to challenge Vitalii Mykolenko” for the left-back position, a key role in his squad. The coach has even opted to use James Garner and Seamus Coleman out of position, despite having the Morocco international available.
For Moyes, this decision does not reflect Aznou’s ability:
“He’s a really good footballer, a nice footballer. He’s just got a bit of building up to do, a bit of physicality to get, so we’ll do that and we’ll see how he develops, but his footballing ability – he’s a good player.”
The Scottish manager stressed that Aznou’s £7.8m transfer was a long-term investment:
“He’s a young talented player with a lot of potential. Left-backs are not easy to get and we’ve brought in a young player who we hope will grow in his time at Everton.”
Moyes also mentioned the possibility of using the player in the U21s to maintain match sharpness:
“He’s above that level, but it doesn’t mean that he might need to get a few games – if we’re struggling to get him game time, we might need to use him [in the U21s] at different times. But we’ll monitor that as we go along, but he’s not quite ready to be playing for the first team at the moment.”
A product of Barcelona’s La Masia academy, Aznou’s adaptation has been disrupted by injury during the summer. He replaced Mykolenko in the final pre-season friendly against Roma but struggled, before missing the start of the season with fitness issues. According to Moyes, that absence has been a key factor in his gradual integration into the first-team setup.
