Leeds have today bagged their first central defender this summer with the signing of highly rated Everton defender Matthew Pennington on a season long loan. The 22 year old has linked up with the team in Austria and is training today.
The deal for Pennington was in the pipeline yesterday afternoon and was all but confirmed by Phil Hay after he had spoken to Thomas Christiansen and the gaffer said Pennington was on his way out to Austria last night. Pennington was expected to join Hull City before Leeds got involved and pushed the deal through, Middlesbrough also missing out on the centre back. Pennington is expected to have a big future at his hometown club but needs some game time under his belt. Everton have spent around £30 million on England centre back Michael Keane to add to Ashley Williams, Funes-Mori and Phil Jagielka so game time wasn’t expected for the youngster.
Pennington did play at times last season, famously scoring at Anfield against Liverpool in the Merseyside Derby, something that means a huge amount to a youth product of wither side. Pennington will want to make sure he plays and performs to the highest level he can so he has a chance of breaking into the Everton team next season. We have an Everton fan view tonight to give us more of an insight into the type of player we are getting in Matthew Pennington.
