Harrison Duncan has been linked with the Blues, but Rotherham manager Steve Evans wants to keep him at the club
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Updated 13:22, 17 Mar 2025
Duncan in action for Rotherham. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
Rotherham United manager Steve Evans has confirmed there is a lot of interest in the club's 16-year-old prospect Harrison Duncan. Everton are one of the club's to be linked with the young defender.
The Blues are expected to be busy in the summer transfer window, with a number of players either out of contract or set to see their loan agreements end.
While there will be plenty of work ongoing to reshape the first-team squad, there will no doubt be plans to build for the future too. Duncan, who is one of the most highly-rated prospects in the Football League, could potentially be part of that process.
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Speaking to the Rotherham Examiner, Evans admitted there were clubs looking to secure the teenager's signature.
"I had a good chat with the head of our youth system (Richard Hairyes) who said there’s been huge interest in him," he said. "I would recommend that we keep him. I think he’s going to be a really good player. I know that the club had two offers for him a number of months ago.
"The chairman said: 'No. If we want to keep our young talent, we'll try our best to do that.' It never got to a level where it was more sensible to take those funds and help the academy. Our academy chief endorsed that."
Everton can of course point to a number of success stories in recent years when it comes to developing young defenders.
Jarrad Branthwaite has blossomed into one of the best centre-back prospects in the Premier League since his arrival from Carlisle United, while David Moyes' last signing for the club in his first spell was John Stones, who has been arguably England's greatest centre-back in a generation.