How Everton starlet Tom Davies became a local hero

After his role in destroying Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side on Sunday, Everton teenager Tom Davies has been hailed as both a throwback and a flagbearer in the modern football world.

The 18-year-old helped create the Toffees' opening goal and scored the critical third in the 4-0 rout. He also cleared an effort off the line to keep his side in front at 2-0.

It was all the more impressive on a day when many at Goodison Park were hoping to see new signing Morgan Schneiderlin, a second-half substitute, rather than the local lad. But Davies won them all over.

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"What he did to make it 3-0 will live long in the memory, but on the day when all eyes were waiting to glimpse a £24m midfield newcomer, they were treated to a coming of age performance from an 18-year-old who will take some shifting from this team no matter who else arrives in January," writes Greg O'Keeffe in the Liverpool Echo.

"[Manager] Ronald Koeman has been steadfast in his approach to young players. They will only come into the side when they're ready to stay in. Boy, is Davies ready."

He also made quite an impression on Paul Hayward of the Daily Telegraph, who writes that "with his socks at half-mast, and his talent untouched by pressure" the youngster "did more than delight Evertonians against Manchester City".

Davies's performance "was enjoyed far beyond the old stands of Goodison", he says, and was a display "to unite people of my generation who grew up watching the game in the 1970s with today's younger fans who probably crave a bit of eccentricity or edge".

Whether Davies establishes himself as a star remains to be seen, but that was almost irrelevant on Sunday, says Hayward. "The interesting part is our reaction to these overnight sensations; the universal thrill of seeing a teenager beat the system. And that, sadly, is how it feels now in a league where only around 30 per cent of Premier League starters are England-eligible, and where supporters have had to temper their hopes of seeing youngsters who might be extensions of themselves out there on the pitch."

Although he looks like a "throwback" to the 1970s, "Davies finds himself a flagbearer at a time when the landscape has changed at Everton’s famed academy", says Paul Joyce of The Times.

"The standard for those aspiring to make the breakthrough has never been higher and Everton will actively seek out the best young players - Brendan Galloway, Holgate and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are testament to that - if they feel there is a shortfall from within their ranks. Home-grown is no longer the be-all and end-all."

It is quality that matters and Davies showed he has it, says Paul Wilson of The Guardian. "Undaunted by Yaya Toure, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and all the other illustrious names in front of him, Davies played with a confidence and maturity beyond his years," he says.

He can consider himself to have arrived, says Wilson, even Guardiola now knows his name.