James Vaughan may have been heralded as the new Wayne Rooney after becoming the Premiership’s youngest ever goalscorer on Sunday but he will have to wait a while before sending his girlfriend on shopping trips to Milan. The 16-year-old has been handed a whopping £10-a-week pay rise but will have to wait until June before that finally kicks in.
The young striker emerged from the bench after 74 minutes of Everton’s resounding victory over Crystal Palace to score the host’s fourth goal with three minutes remaining. That established Vaughan, at 16 years and 271 days, as the Premiership’s youngest goalscorer, eclipsing James Milner’s previous record by 86 days.
In the process, he also became Everton’s youngest goalscorer, knocking 71 days off Rooney’s achievement against Wrexham in 2002. Yet, while the England striker now earns wages of nearer £80 000-a-week at Manchester United, Vaughan will continue his two-year scholarship at Goodison Park, picking up 1 000th of that amount until his salary is boosted to £90 on June 1.
Everton will not be able to offer him professional terms until after his 17th birthday on July 14, though Vaughan should then benefit from his first senior contract, having impressed throughout the junior ranks and in the reserves.
”There are parts of his game he knows he needs to work on but his dedication and attitude towards making the best of what he’s got is great,” said Ray Hall, head of Everton’s academy at Netherton. ”He is rough and tough, he’ll have a go and put himself in the box where it matters.”
Vaughan, who was born in Birmingham, was first spotted by Everton as a nine-year-old playing for his primary school side in Preston after his parents Dorrington and Shirley moved to Lancashire. They returned to the Midlands when James was 14, with the youngster soon graduating through Everton’s academy ranks and scoring twice in his three caps for England Under-17 over Easter. He will compete at the European championships in Italy later this year.
”He has certainly got all the attributes — strength, honesty, work-rate and commitment,” said his Everton team-mate David Weir. ”He has still got a few rough edges and has a lot to learn. As long as he does that, it could be a big future for him. He’d only been on for five minutes and the ref was having a little word, telling
him to calm down a bit, so he’s got a great chance.” — Â