Manchester United rebuilt their midfield at the cost of £120m this summer but not so long ago they had “mini Valverde” in their ranks.
James Garner is the one that got away at Old Trafford and has made his way into the England squad in the four years since leaving for Everton.
It was Thomas Tuchel who nicknamed him after Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde, the ultimate compliment for a player who has all the attributes of an international player without necessarily having the image – or self-publicity – of Ballon d’Or contenders. Garner is a footballers’ footballer.
Like Valverde, Garner can play in several positions but his role in central midfield for Everton earned him an England debut earlier this year, and Tuchel called for him again when Declan Rice was ruled out of the first Nations League matches of the campaign. Garner had checked into a hotel in Bodrum, Turkey, when the call came and flew immediately back to compete for his place.
“There’s probably a little bit of similarities in terms of he plays in different positions – midfield, he’s played on the wing, he’s played right-back, basically the exact same as me, so to be compared to someone like that is good,” Garner says of the Valverde comparisons. “He’s one of the best midfielders in the world.
“You wouldn’t really call him a household name, would you? But players who have played the game, they know how good he is, and he does a very good job in whatever position he plays. I watch a lot of football. I watch all the Champions League games and he always stands out, so I would say he’s underrated.”
Garner is rated highly by David Moyes, the Everton manager, who gives him different roles depending on the opposition, from man-marker to playmaker. At United he started as a centre-back, modelling himself on Nemanja Vidic.
It was only at 15 that he moved into midfield, and then only because of a team-mate’s injury. He never made a Premier League start for United and after loans at Watford and Nottingham Forest, the chance to move to Everton came in 2022.
Erik ten Hag had reshaped his midfield by then with Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, so Garner took the opportunity to move out of his comfort zone and go to Merseyside, having been born in Birkenhead but scouted by United at under-8 level.
“It’s a weird one, because growing up I was always a centre-back,” he says. “I’d be lying if I said Messi and others were players I modelled my game on.
“As mad as it sounds – because obviously I came through at Manchester United – I used to love Nemanja Vidic. I used to love the No 15 and things like that. Then you grow up a little and I was watching more football with my dad. I was a midfielder and used to love Lampard and Scholes and Gerrard.”
Garner was promoted to the Premier League with Forest the season before leaving United but decided to move to Everton, whose £9m investment appears more astute by the game.
“It was the perfect thing for me to do. I’ve never been shy of going into a more uncomfortable place,” Garner says. “I went on loan three times, I went to Watford and then twice to Nottingham, so I moved early and moved down to London and to Nottingham, so I wasn’t worried about moving at all, changing scenery.
“It was just about playing games and Everton was the perfect choice. I didn’t just want to fizzle into the background and just sit on the bench, so I wanted to go into a team where I felt like I had a chance to fight for my position and that’s what I have done in the past three or four years.
“I am a big believer that everything happens for a reason. When I left they signed three or four midfielders, world-class ones. Had I stayed I wouldn’t have been where I am today so I am more than happy that I left.”
Moyes also appears to be the perfect manager for Garner, giving him responsibility within the Everton team, but also a platform to show his range of passing and creativity. His manager and team-mates call him “Jimmy” but it will remain James to commentators and journalists.
“It’s a nickname really. My mum and dad call me James, and that’s what it says on my birth certificate,” he says. “But because I moved to Manchester so early, the lads just kind of gave me the name of Jimmy and it stuck. There are a lot of Jameses, so if there are two Jameses, I’ll go with Jimmy. That’s fine.”
Next for Garner is trying to earn a third England cap and also getting a refund on his holiday in Turkey that was cut short by Tuchel’s phone call. “I’m trying to work on a little thing on the hotel so that I’m not losing all my money!” he says. “So I can at least go back and have the holiday I paid for. We’ll see what happens.”