OPINION
Defender Matthew Pennington should never play for Everton again as his latest outing while out on loan at Leeds United proves he will never be good enough for the club.
The 23-year-old centre-back is currently on loan in the Championship at the Whites and has had an awful past few months as he has looked nowhere near ready to be playing Championship football, let alone feature in the Premier League.
Pennington has struggled to show why anyone would rate him at Goodison Park in the 21 appearances he made for Leeds this season, with his display against Barnsley on Saturday being particularity hard to watch.
The Toffees enforcer was played out-of-position as a right-back and the decision seemed to be more likely to help Barnsley win the game than Paul Heckingbottom’s side.
While Pennington will no doubt argue that it was not his fault that he struggled in Saturday’s game, considering his unfamiliar position, his performance was awful, even taking his position change into account.
It is not a one-time thing either – past performances at centre-back in recent months hardly imply that he is capable of delivering the goods that would be required of him at Goodison Park.
Ahead of spending this season out on loan at Elland Road, Pennington had made a total of nine appearances for the Toffees in his career.
The defender previously appeared to have real promise, but now at the age of 23-years-old, he has not fulfilled enough of his potential to be kept at the club.
Pennington is contracted to stay at the Toffees until 2019 after signing a one-year extension last April, as reported by the Daily Star, so this summer is potentially the club’s last chance to get a fee for his services.
Therefore while it will be a sucker punch for Pennington, the Toffees must sell the 23-year-old in the summer and ensure that the enforcer never kicks another football at Goodison Park, at least while wearing an Everton jersey.