Former Liverpool coach raves about £1 million Everton signing despite 'terrible 15 minutes'

Everton youngster Francis Okoronkwo made the dream debut after completing a loan switch to Salford City.

The forward moved to the League Two side on summer transfer deadline day to get valuable regular senior experience under his belt. Okoronkwo, who joined the Toffees from Sunderland in 2021 for a reported £1 million, scored five goals in 14 games for the under-21s last season.

He was deemed ready to be loaned out to Salford - and could not have made a better start. Handed a full debut despite only arriving three days earlier, Okoronkwo bagged the only goal in a 1-0 victory over promotion-hopefuls MK Dons. In the 42nd minute, he cut inside before finishing beyond Dons keeper Tom McGill. It proved a crucial intervention, with Salford securing their first league win of the campaign and moving up to 14th in the table.

Manager Karl Robinson admitted that Okoronkwo was ‘terrible’ after 15 minutes into his debut but displayed resolve and confidence to come through his difficult spell. The former Liverpool Academy coach told the club’s website: "We knew today we had to be a little bit cuter in our possession, we had to be a little bit more compact, a bit more aggressive in certain areas.

"I'm disappointed we didn't score a second, we had some wonderful chances, and to be fair to MK so did they. You know you're going to have to be on one of your best performances and we did that in large parts, but there's no point getting carried away on one win. We're only going to get stronger, we're only going to get better, this is going to be a long season.

"I thought his (Frankie) first 15 minutes were terrible, but his strength of character to have the confidence within yourself to take someone on and finish the way he did was very, very good."