Everton: Ryan Astley finalising personal terms to quit Goodison Park for good – Sky Sports

Everton defender Ryan Astley is in talks to quit the club for good and join Dundee, according to Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph.

Writing on his personal Twitter account (18 January), the journalist reports that the player will join the Scottish Premier League club on a free transfer once his personal terms have been agreed.

Everton will include a sell-on clause in the deal, with the 22-year-old set to move on after failing to make a senior appearance at Goodison Park.

“Dundee are closing in on the signing of Everton centre-back Ryan Astley,” he wrote.

“It’s understood personal terms with the 22-year-old are being finalised.

“Once agreed, Astley will move on a free transfer, with the Premier League club inserting a sell-on clause into the deal.”

No shock

Everton selling players makes sense, especially when they are 22-years-old and haven’t broken into the first-team at all.

The player is never going to make it at Goodison Park with the way the team is currently with so many players ahead of him in the pecking order, so a sale makes sense for all parties.

But letting him leave for free when the club is in financial worries is obviously not ideal, and a sell-on clause is only useful if the club are expecting him to move on in the future for a decent sum.

It would surely make much more sense for the Toffees board to move him on for a decent fee now, before adding in a smaller sell-on clause in case he pushes on in the future and earns himself another move.

It’s a weird decision but it gets the players wages off the books and allows him to move on and play elsewhere, so it’s the right thing morally. Financially however, it’s another big question mark.