Tom Cannon sends two-word message as Everton confirm contract news

Former Everton striker Tom Cannon has sent Billy Crellin a two-word message on social media after the goalkeeper signed a contract renewal at Goodison Park.

Taking to Instagram (20 September), the now-Leicester City man congratulated the young goalkeeper after he signed a two-year contract extension at the Merseyside club.

After a successful Championship loan at Preston North End, Cannon left Everton in the summer for the King Power Stadium, while Crellin is still waiting to make his senior Toffees debut.

Congrats, young man,” Cannon added.

One to remember

Although Jordan Pickford and Joao Virginia are ahead of Crellin, the 23-year-old will have to wait to make his professional Everton debut.

The congratulatory flood on social media for the young goalkeeper shows how well regarded he is at Goodison Park, with first-team player Lewis Dobbin expressing his excitement at his new deal.

Although Crellin has been a staple of the Toffees’ youth program, their Premier League 2 campaign has not had the best of starts. After just two appearances, Crellin alone has allowed seven goals to enter the net, placing the Toffees at the bottom of the standings.

Despite this, the former Bolton loanee has earned himself multiple starts for England’s youth team, with his most recent start coming in 2019 for the under-20s, demonstrating his enormous potential.

In the previous two Premier League 2 seasons, Cannon and Crellin were regular teammates, finishing last season’s campaign in a solid eighth position. Since then, the striker has moved on to play adult football in the Championship, but he has not yet played for the Foxes.

While acknowledging that he is considering a second loan in January, Crellin is still hopeful of seeing first-team action soon enough. He stated: “[I’d like to] get to January and go out and play some games on loan to show everyone here at the club what I can do,” as reported by the Liverpool Echo (20 September). then return the following year, and continue from there.

He sees a great future in Merseyside, but it might be some time before he plays for the first team.

Other Everton news includes Jim White’s “cliff-edge” assessment of the Toffees’ financial condition.