3

Leighton Baines

Player Stats

Appearances
385
Goals
36
Tackle Success
74%
Yellow cards
38

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Leighton Baines joined Everton from Wigan Athletic just a few days before the start of the 2007-08 season, signing a five-year deal.

He has gone on to amass more than 400 Everton appearances and been a consistently excellent performer for the Toffees for more than a decade.

Having been on Everton’s books as a teenager, Baines eventually joined Wigan's youth set-up and made his senior debut at the age of 17. He went on to make nearly 150 appearances for the Latics, impressing in the Premier League and becoming a regular for England Under-21s.

The Kirkby-born defender returned to Merseyside when he signed for the Blues in August 2007.

Baines grabbed his first Toffees goal against Portsmouth in March 2009 and was handed his first England cap a year later in March 2010, helping the Three Lions to a 3-1 win over Egypt. He finished that campaign by receiving Everton's Players'-Player-of-the-Season award.

His fine form continued over the following years, the left-back winning the Player, Players' Player and Goal of the Season honours at Everton's 2010-11 end of season awards - finishing the campaign with seven goals - before being named in the PFA Team of the Year for 2011-12.

Netting seven times for Everton in all competitions in 2012-13, Baines scored arguably his best goal to date at Newcastle United in January 2013 when he sent a thumping 30-yard free-kick past goalkeeper Tim Krul.

And Baines was again a double winner at the end-of-season awards dinner, claiming both the Player of the Season, as voted by the fans, and Players’ Player of the Season prizes. 

Baines was also named in the PFA Team of the Year for the second campaign in succession, and was the only outfield player to feature in every minute of his club's Premier League campaign.

In 2014-15, Baines broke Graeme Le Saux's record for most assists by a Premier League defender, with his record-breaking 45th coming against Manchester City in January 2015.

In December 2016, Baines was rewarded with a new Everton deal until the summer of 2019.

He reached 400 Premier League appearances in a March 2018 meeting with Manchester City, before matching that total in outings for Everton when he played 90 minutes in the 1-0 victory over Newcastle United the following month.

Baines is Everton’s leading scorer from the penalty spot after eclipsing David Unsworth’s previous record of 23 when his strike from 12-yards completed a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Watford in November 2017.

The immaculate form of French international left-back Lucas Digne, who signed for Everton in summer 2018, saw Baines limited to eight appearances in 2018-19. 

Baines performed admirably when called upon, however, and the full-back penned a new one-year deal with the Club in June 2019.

Contracted until: June 2020