Drenthe Everton´s next hero?

Everton manager David Moyes said he has high expectations of on-loan Real Madrid midfielder Royston Drenthe.

The 24-year-old originally burst onto the scene for the Dutch Under-21s in 2007, winning the European Under-21 Championship and being named as player of the tournament.

That earned him a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid, but his time at the Bernabeu was less successful than he had hoped, and he spent last season on loan at Hercules, who were eventually relegated.

Drenthe joined Everton on a season-long loan deal on deadline day, and has scored twice in the Premier League for the Toffees in wins against Wigan and Fulham.

Yet his transfer from Real Madrid has not been an unqualified success following a red card against Chelsea that blighted his promising goalscoring start, and his manager has indicated that Drenthe will have to continue to impress to secure a permanent move to Merseyside.

Moyes told The Daily Mirror: “Royston has done okay. He’s had some moments that have helped us and some moments that have worried us.”

“But it is early days for him here. He is in the last year of his contract (with Real Madrid), he’s on loan and there won’t be a fee for him.”

“We did the same with Mikel (Arteta) and Steven (Pienaar) and it was a great opportunity for them.”