James Garner: Everton's Rising Star Shines in Premier League
James Garner has been putting in the kind of away-day shifts Everton fans recognise instantly: full-blooded tackles, relentless running, and a refusal to let a game drift. Now the rest of the Premier League is finally catching up.
The latest reminder came in Saturday’s goalless draw at Tottenham. Up against a home midfield built on a near-£200m pairing of Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, it was Garner who imposed himself on the contest, snapping into duels and dictating Everton’s rare moments of calm on the ball.
His performance drew praise on Match of the Day from Brentford boss Thomas Frank, working as a pundit, who highlighted both sides of the 23-year-old’s game.
“Garner today was extremely good,” said Frank. “He is aware; he's talking; he's organising. In a high-press situation, he does the recovery, and that's just so exceptional and so important when you are playing against a team who are dominating you.
“He was running so hard, so that's one side of his game, but also so important is his touches. He is a lot on the ball. It's through him that a lot of things are happening.”
The tackles that stopped Tonali and Fernandes driving through midfield were the headline moments, but they came from a player who missed a significant chunk of pre-season after hernia surgery. There was no easing back in. He just took charge.
Former Everton defender Ashley Williams, also on punditry duty, put it in terms every centre-back understands.
"He's really impressive. If you're a centre-back behind him, he's the type of midfielder you want," Williams said, summing up the security Garner now brings in front of the back line.
It is a long way from his Manchester United days. An academy graduate who never started a Premier League game for the club, Garner left Old Trafford in 2022 for an initial £9m, off the back of a successful loan spell helping Nottingham Forest win promotion.
At Everton, the bedding-in period was not straightforward. Two seasons under Frank Lampard and then Sean Dyche unfolded against a backdrop of financial strain and points deductions. The club lurched from crisis to crisis. Garner, like the team, flickered rather than flourished.
Then came 2025-26. Everything changed.
That campaign became his breakthrough, the season that turned him from promising squad player into Everton’s midfield reference point. He played all but six minutes of their Premier League season, driving a European push that lingered deep into spring.
One game crystallised that shift. In December, a depleted Everton travelled to Nottingham Forest and won 2-0, moving to within four points of the top four. Garner scored the opener and bossed the midfield, a performance that underlined how far he had come since his loan days at the City Ground.
After that victory, manager David Moyes did not hide his admiration.
“When I came in, I still saw a bit of a boy and I think I now see someone who's turning into a really good leader as well, beginning to take a bit more responsibility and grow up and begin to start to act like a real midfield player,” Moyes said.
The numbers backed up the eye test. Across the season, Garner led Everton in a raft of metrics at both ends of the pitch. He made the most successful passes, the most tackles, the most interceptions. He also supplied the most assists and created the highest number of chances.
The impact became even more striking once Jack Grealish’s season ended with injury in January. With Everton’s key winger sidelined, someone had to carry the creative load. Garner stepped into the void. Four of his seven league assists came after Grealish was ruled out, a clear sign he was not just a destroyer but a builder too.
"He's been fantastic since I came in," Moyes added. "I didn't realise probably how good he was. He's been so good."
From overlooked academy graduate to the heartbeat of an Everton side chasing Europe, Garner has forced people to reassess him. The crunching tackles are still there, but now they come with composure on the ball, responsibility, and a growing sense of authority.
The rest of the league is finally paying attention. The real question is how much higher his ceiling can go from here.
