Everton are in dire need of offensive firepower this season, with current options failing to cut the mustard and the club consequently teetering dangerously close to the chasm that is the relegation zone.
The door to a season out on loan is often a fruitful one, with, primarily, young players finding their feet elsewhere and establishing a foundation to their game, before returning to the fold and attempting to make a striking impact.
Such is not currently the case for Everton winger Lewis Dobbin, who is regarded as a promising prospect by the Toffees hierarchy but has failed to leave a mark in the third-tier thus far this term.
Indeed, the 19-year-old has recorded two goals and four assists across 23 appearances, failing to score in League One, and will need to continue to make gains if he is to catch the eye of Toffees boss Frank Lampard.
As per SofaScore, the Evertonian has recorded a lowly rating of 6.45/10 in League One this term, with no goals to boast.
His 1.3 shots per game have been largely wayward, only hitting the target with 0.2 of these efforts, with three big chances missed in this period.
He has also struggled on the transitional front, completing only 31% of his dribbles and 34% of his duels, and losing possession 9.2 times per match, on average.
The player also missed a penalty in Derby’s shootout with Liverpool for a place in the Carabao Cup fourth round, which the outfit ultimately lost.
He will need to improve over the second-half of the term, with the Rams fighting for promotion back into the Championship, currently situated in sixth place.
With Dobbin’s 20th birthday approaching, he will be desperate to make an impact and earn a place in Lampard’s plans, but he will have to be far crisper across the park if he is to emulate the form that saw him score 14 goals and provide 11 assists 31 U18 outings for the Toffees.
The Athletic’s Toffees correspondent Patrick Boyland lauded the forward as an “exciting talent” last season, and the recipe for success is there, the ingredients are just lacking flavour and potency right now.
Quite frankly, despite Everton’s need for a winger, and forward reinforcements, Dobbin will be overlooked at present. Despite fitting the positional mould, he is not producing results that suggest he can provide the Merseyside outfit another positive dimension, and he will need to buck up his form if he is to have a future at his boyhood club.