Lewis Dobbin left Everton during the summer of 2024.
Then manager Sean Dyche sanctioned the £9m sale of Lewis Dobbin to fellow Premier League side Aston Villa.
Everton were forced into the deal due to PSR issues, and they ended up signing Tim Iroegbunam, who came the other way from Villa Park.
Does David Moyes need to put more trust in Everton’s academy players? 😤
Surely some of these players can do better than Beto and Dwight McNeil! 😡
Everton striker Braiden Graham. Everton manager David Moyes.
Credit: Getty Images/Andrew Kearns – CameraSport/Visionhaus.
Dobbin has been sent on multiple loans and now finds himself at Championship outfit Preston North End.
With that said, the Toffees may be regretting selling the 23-year-old attacker, as he’s flourishing at Deepdale this season.
Former Everton attacker Lewis Dobbin is Preston’s top scorer
After a couple of difficult loan spells at Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion, Dobbin is now excelling at Preston.
The Everton academy graduate is actually North End’s top scorer this season, and he netted his eighth goal of the season against Watford on Saturday afternoon.
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Everton's Braiden Graham inspecting the pitch before the match during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Everton. Everton midfielder Malik Olayiwola. Justin Clarke of Everton looks on during the pre-season friendly match between Accrington Stanley and Everton.
Credit: Getty Images/Andrew Kearns – CameraSport/Kevin Hodgson/MI News/NurPhoto/Matt McNulty.
Dobbin has been operating mainly as a centre-forward for Paul Heckingbottom’s men, who have a couple of former Toffees playing there.
Thierry Small and Lewis Gibson, who both came through the Finch Farm academy, are plying their trade at Preston.
Dobbin has also laid on a very commendable five assists, taking his total goal contribution tally to 13 for the campaign.
Appearances 27
Goals 8
Assists 5
Dobbin stats 25/26
Lewis Dobbin involved in controversy this weekend
Dobbin was involved in a controversial moment for Preston this weekend, as Heckingbottom wasn’t happy with his outburst after being substituted against Watford.
Speaking to the media after the game, the Preston boss said: “Of course I mind it. It’s not Maradona I’m bringing off, is it?
“No-one’s any better than anyone else. There’s an easy way to sort that, you just don’t start them and then they don’t moan when they come off, do they? No, he’s fine. Listen, he’s frustrated because he was playing well, of course he was.
“But he was also part of the reason why they’re counting on us all the time, because we’d gone for it, we’d put attacking players on and left the spaces.
“Sometimes when you’re a forward you don’t appreciate how hard the lads at the back are working and what they have to do. So, it was important that we made that change and it certainly helped us.”
It’s important to note that Dobbin, despite being around for several years now, is still a very young player and will learn from this.
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