Thursday 27 October 2016 17:22, UK
Former Everton striker Francis Jeffers has returned to the club as an academy coach.
The 35-year-old rose through the Everton youth ranks himself and made his debut against Manchester United as a 16-year-old in 1997.
His scored 18 Premier League goals in his first spell with the Toffees and was tipped as one of England's best young strikers but his career never hit such heights after an £8m move to Arsenal in 2001.
Jeffers retired in 2013 after a brief spell with Accrington Stanley and is currently working towards his UEFA A licence.
After being hired to guide Everton's next generation of goalscorers, Jeffers said: "I'm passionate about coaching and there is no better place to do that than at the club I love.
"I'll be working with all the forward-thinking players in the academy, trying to help them on their journey, which I know a bit about because I have been on it myself.
"You look at it now and teams play mainly with one striker, some play with none. Helping forwards be ready for that challenge is something I'm really passionate about, because I believe the kids in the academy need more help as a striker."
Jeffers played 82 times and scored 22 goals in two spells with Everton and was capped once for England in 2003.
But after just four Premier League starts with Arsenal he was offloaded to Charlton for £2.6m in 2004 and scored only 15 league goals during the rest of his career, joining Rangers and then Blackburn, Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday, Motherwell and Accrington.
