Departing Everton starlet Isaac Heath, who has joined Cambridge United subject to EFL and FA approval, was always going to be moving above League Two level for his next test.
That is the verdict of lifelong Blues fan John Doolan, who gave the Leeds-born youngster his big break in professional football this season on loan at Accrington Stanley. Heath, who still had 12 months to run on the two-year deal he penned with Everton last summer, has joined League One new boys Cambridge, who won promotion after finishing third in League Two, for an undisclosed fee understood to be worth £250,000.
The 21-year-old said: "I am delighted to get the move over the line. This feels like the right club for me at this stage of my career, and my conversations with the manager played a big part in my decision to come here.
"We spoke in depth about how I fit into the team's style of play and the plans for me going forward, which really excited me. I am just looking forward to getting started now."
United head coach Neil Harris added: "I am delighted to welcome Isaac to the football club. We had to fend off strong competition for his signature, and we are really pleased he has chosen to join us.
"He is a young player with a huge amount of development ahead of him, and I look forward to helping him on his footballing journey. Isaac gives us versatility across the front line and will add a real attacking threat to the squad."
Indeed, as reported by Joe Thomas in the ECHO on June 7, Cambridge faced a battle with Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley and Burton Albion for the player's signature after a campaign that saw him net seven goals and provide five assists in 37 outings for the Lancashire outfit.
Heath did not actually play for Stanley after their 1-1 draw against Cambridge at Wham Stadium on March 7, but ahead of that match, their Liverpool-born manager Doolan, who was Alan Stubbs' assistant manager when the former Everton captain steered Hibernian to their first Scottish Cup win for 114 years in 2016, spoke to the same correspondent in an exclusive interview about the prospect's promise.
He told the ECHO: "I think the world is his oyster. In terms of where he can go, I think he is too good for League Two. I think you are looking at the top end of League One or the Championship.
"He has been outstanding, really impressive on and off the pitch. He is robust, he plays Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, it is a big ask as a professional footballer to do that, whatever level you are at, but he is robust enough to do that.
"When we signed him from Everton on loan, he was one that jumped off the page and I said: 'He will do for me.' I knew he could be tactically and technically very, very good.
"Now it is just trying to improve that and take him on to the next level. I think what we have seen and witnessed since he came through the door is an improvement in everything about him, tactical, technical, and also in levels.
"I think he has proved he can go beyond this level without a shadow of a doubt."
