EVERTON HAVE ANNOUNCED the signing of right-back Nathan Patterson from Rangers on a five-and-a-half year deal.
Joining for an undisclosed fee, the 20-year-old Scotland international becomes a second signing of the transfer window for the Toffees, who are currently 15th in the Premier League, with Ukraine left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko having already arrived from Dynamo Kiev.
Rangers academy product Patterson made his senior debut for the Glasgow outfit in January 2020 and has played 25 times for them in total.
He will provide competition for club captain Seamus Coleman, with the Ireland stalwart coming in for criticism from the Everton fans of late.
Patterson, holder of six international caps, said: “I’m over the moon to sign for Everton and looking forward to getting started.
“It was an easy choice to sign. This is a massive club with huge history and the fanbase is tremendous.
“Obviously we aren’t in the place where we want to be right now but we can definitely get there with the talent in the changing room and staff here, and I have full belief we can do that.
“It is really exciting to come to a club that has huge talent in the team. I am going to work my socks off and hopefully I can do well with them in training and in games.
It was also great for me knowing the manager (Rafael Benitez) really wanted me here and that made my decision.
“When a club really wants you, it makes your mind up early on. I wanted to come here from the very start. I’m delighted to be here and really looking forward to playing in front of the fans at Goodison.
“Long-term, I want to nail down a starting position and win some trophies to make the fans proud.”
Patterson said Evertonians could expect “athleticism, desire and strong challenges, along with good forward play” from him.
He added that he had spoken to the club’s skipper and fellow right-back Coleman, saying:
I had a conversation with him yesterday. He let me know he’s a Celtic fan, so he had to get that in there early on!
“I am really looking forward to learning from him and working together. He’s an experienced pro who has been through it all. ”
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