View: Everton may have regret as midfielder plays key role in EFL promotion push

Everton sold Jenson Metcalfe to Bradford City in this season’s summer window, and now the midfielder is playing a big part in the Bantams’ League One promotion push.

Metcalfe joined Everton’s academy system aged just five-years old, and turned professional with the Toffees after turning 17.

He suffered a devastating cruciate ligament injury in 2022, but soon signed a long-term contract with Everton, and continued to turn heads in the youth set-up over the last few years.

Metcalfe got his sniff of first-team opportunity when being named on the bench against Brighton in the Premier League in August 2024, but the midfielder would never make a competitive senior appearance for the Toffees.

And so, in July 2025, Metcalfe completed a permanent transfer to Bradford City on a three-year deal, after the Bantams had just won promotion from League Two into League One.

How has Jenson Metcalfe been doing with Bradford City?

Metcalfe was once a very highly-rated prospect, being named in The Guardian’s Next Generation 2021 list of the top 20 best talents at Premier League clubs that year.

As such, there will have been many inside Everton who believed he was destined for first-team stardom on Merseyside, but that didn’t turn out to be the case.

So, it was newly-promoted League One side Bradford City, under the management of Graham Alexander, that decided to take a chance on him.

The Bantams have been greatly rewarded for doing so, as the 21-year-old has evolved into an integral part of Alexander’s team, who currently sit fourth in League One.

He’s made 34 appearances in League One this season, starting 26 of those and averaging 70 minutes per game and has scored two goals to boot.

As per Sofascore, he’s registered a 56 per cent dribble success rate, won 58 per cent of his ground duels and 59 per cent of his aerial duels respectively, as the defensive midfielder has been a rock in the middle of the park.

Metcalfe is showing rapid signs of progression

Everton obviously can’t keep every young talent on their books, and because of that, it’s only natural that a player slips the net every now and then.

The latest one could well be Metcalfe, as all he’s done is proven himself at senior level at every opportunity.

In 2024-25, he spent the season on loan in League Two with Chesterfield, and was one of their best players that term when finishing seventh in the fourth tier.

Now in 2025-26, he’s showing himself to be a cut above in League One, and is showing plenty of signs that he’s ready to go higher in the near future, whether that be with Bradford or elsewhere.

So, there’s every chance that Metcalfe could be on his way to the Championship soon, as Everton must be watching his progress thinking, ‘we might have made a mistake here’.

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