AARON LENNON – THE TYPICAL WINGER
Everton wrapped up their transfer business for January 2015 by bringing Aaron Lennon in on loan from Spurs.
Once the news broke, the majority of views I saw on the signing were negative ones. I disagree and here’s why:
For anyone who knows nothing about the Englishman, he’s 27 and plays on the right wing. That is his one and only position and he plays like a true, typical, old fashioned winger.
Lennon began his career at Leeds United in 2001 when he joined their academy. He made his Premier League debut in August 2003 against Spurs. Aged 16 years and 129 days, that cameo made him the youngest player to have appeared in the league at the time.
His performances earned rave reviews over the next couple of seasons and in June 2005 Lennon joined Tottenham Hotspur for 1 million pounds. The fee was substantially lower than Leeds would have liked due to their financial trouble.
During that 2005/2006 season, Lennon received the first of his three nominations for PFA Young Player of the Year. The subsequent nominations came in the following two seasons, 2006/2007 and 2008/2009.
That ‘08/’09 season also saw Lennon named Spurs’ player and young player of the year as well as the supporters player of the year.
Lennon has played for England 21 times and has been part of two World Cup squads. He has a 2008 League Cup medal to his name as well as European experience in both the Champions League and Europa League.
However, he will be unable to play in the Europa League for Everton as he is cup tied having already featured for Spurs in this year’s competition.
In total, Lennon has scored 31 goals in 407 club appearances. Goal scoring isn’t really his forte but the width, pace and fantastic crossing ability that he will give us should make him a great addition to the squad. He is a clever and unselfish footballer and he will provide some key ammunition from the wide areas to Romelu Lukaku.
It can’t be denied that he hasn’t fulfilled the incredible potential he showed in his youth and this is partly due to injuries. That said, he is most definitely not past his best and I personally can’t wait to see him lighting up our right wing for the remainder of the campaign.
Here are some of his best moments to date:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_o-6PvL8qw
Welcome to Everton, Aaron!
Eoin Leeson.