Leighton Baines

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Leighton Baines
Personal information
Full name Leighton John Baines
Date of birth 11 December 1984 (1984-12-11) (age 23)
Place of birth    Kirkby, England
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position Left back
Club information
Current club Everton
Number 3
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2002–2007
2007–		 Wigan Athletic
Everton		 145 (4)
022 (0)   
National team2
2004–2007 England U21 016 (1)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 23:51, 27 May 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 15:54, 21 June 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Leighton John Baines (born 11 December 1984 in Liverpool, Merseyside) is an English footballer, who plays left-back for Everton in the English Premier League. He won 16 caps for the England Under-21 team.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Wigan

Baines made his debut for Wigan Athletic in 2002, and soon became an established member of the Wigan first team, and was a regular when Wigan earned promotion to the Premiership in 2004–05, in which he scored his first goal for the club, a spectacular strike from long-range against Ipswich Town.

Baines signed a new contract with Wigan in February 2005 despite being linked to a number of Premiership clubs, including Manchester United, Arsenal and Everton,[1] and extended his contract again after impressive displays in his first season in the Premiership.

He scored a vital goal for England against Germany on 6 October 2006, securing a 1–0 win in the first leg of a UEFA European U21 Championship play-off. He played all four of England's matches in the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship finals.

[edit] Everton

Transfer rumours surrounded Baines throughout the summer before the 2007–08 Premiership season, as he was linked with Everton, Newcastle and Sunderland. On 25 July 2007, Baines rejected a move to Sunderland, after their bid of a reported £6 million was accepted by Wigan, with it being suggested that the player favoured a move back to his home city of Liverpool.[2] On 6 August 2007, it was confirmed by Wigan and the player himself that Everton had completed the signing of Baines, for an initial £5 million, with another £1m in add-ons, depending on Baines' appearances for Everton.[3][4] However, he has rarely featured this season (13 starts, 9 as sub) due to an injury and the good form of Phil Jagielka and Joseph Yobo at centre back which has kept Joleon Lescott at left back.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Baines commits to Latics. skysports.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
  2. ^ Baines rejects Sunderland switch. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
  3. ^ Baines joins Everton. Sky Sports. Retrieved on 2007-08-06.
  4. ^ Everton capture Baines from Wigan. BBC Sport (2007-08-07). Retrieved on 2007-08-07.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Everton F.C. – current squad

2 Hibbert • 3 Baines • 4 Yobo • 5 Lescott • 6 Arteta • 7 Van der Meyde • 8 Johnson • 12 Turner • 14 Vaughan • 16 Jagielka • 17 Cahill • 18 Neville • 19 Valente • 20 Pienaar • 21 Osman • 22 Yakubu • 23 Fernandes • 24 Howard • 28 Anichebe • 30 Ruddy • 32 Gosling • 34 Irving • 37 Rodwell • Manager: Moyes
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