A Progress Report on Walsall's Manchester City Loanee George Evans

Loan moves for young players can sometimes be a waste of time, even counter-productive. Temporary deals are risk free, meaning managers are more willing to take a chance on signing a youngster.

If they don’t like the look of them when they arrive, they just don’t use them and send them back at the end of the deal, with very little lost.

It happened to John Guidetti when he moved from Manchester City to Stoke City on loan in 2014. Guidetti, who desperately needed games to assess his fitness after a long battle with illness, played just six times. City gained very little. Neither did Stoke.

The player would probably have been better staying put, given the intensity of the training, and the facilities provided by City would have been far superior.

For George Evans, though, currently on loan from City at Walsall, it’s been a different story. His loan switch has been a shining example of how they can work effectively.

City have developed the player technically, but, in need of what Patrick Vieira calls "men’s football," he has used his period playing in League One to strengthen physically and prepare himself for a life in the professional game.

Whether that will be with City remains unclear, but it’s obvious Evans, 20, can have a career in football, at least at Championship level, perhaps even as a Premier League regular. 

Evans made history at City in September when he became the first ever Blues player to appear at every level for the club after making his senior debut as a substitute in the League Cup away at Sunderland. For a lifelong City fan, it was a dream come true.

The midfielder began his loan spell at Walsall a month later and scored three goals in his first four matches. Given adding goals to his game was one of his primary objectives when he moved, it was a great start.

He told Express and Star: 

"

Scoring goals is an area of my game I’m really trying to work on. It’s a part of my game which I needed to add to and I’ve been doing that for Walsall, so I’m delighted.

Playing in the youth team at Man City, I’ve been more of a holding midfielder but here I’m being given a bit more freedom to get forward and go and express myself and I’m really enjoying it.

I’ve scored three goals in four games since being here, it’s been a good start, but it’s only the start.

I need to keep working hard with the lads and for the manager, keep progressing and adding more goals to my game and helping to get more wins for the team.

I went to Crewe when I was 18 and it was good experience for me. I learned a lot about the league and a lot about football.

But coming to Walsall is a great loan move for me. I’m really enjoying my time here and I think I’m learning the game a lot better as well.

"

His initial deal was set to expire at the end of November, but so impressed were Walsall they managed to extend it until the new year, meaning Evans will benefit from playing through the busy Christmas period.

Dean Smith was the man who took him to Banks's Stadium, but he has since joined Championship side Brentford. It would hardly be a surprise of he wanted to take Evans with him, with other sides in the division also likely to be interested.  

Evans could more than hold his own at Brentford, currently a mid-table Championship outfit but one with ambitions of achieving more, or, indeed, any Championship side.

He is disciplined, technically proficient and has a good understanding of the game. He wants to play the game in an attractive way, with slick, quick passing, always on the ground, his preferred style. 

Given he is 20, the chances he will become a regular at City appear fairly slim. There are youngsters at the Etihad, such as Brahim Diaz, 16, and Manu Garcia, 17, who already look to have far more ability than Evans. The level needed to make it at City is now so exceptionally high it would be no slight on Evans' ability of he were to fall short. 

Young players develop at different rates, and Evans still has a chance, but a move to another side looks likely. Perhaps he will join Patrick Vieira on loan at New York City FC while City continue to monitor his progress?

If he was to move to New York and impress playing top-level football, the chance to come back to City and supplement the squad is back on. However, a move to a forward-thinking, upwardly-mobile Championship club seems more likely. 

Whatever his future holds, Evans has shown more than enough during his loan spell to suggest he can have a decent career in the game. 

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2015/16 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @RobPollard_.