PLAYER PROFILE

Phil Neville

Position: Defence

Height: 5'11

Weight: 11st 11lbs

Date of Birth: 1977-01-21 Bury, England

Phil Neville

Everton completed the signing of Phil Neville from Manchester United in the summer of 2005. The 28-year-old signed a five-year deal at Goodison Park after the two clubs agreed a fee in excess of £3m.

He is a versatile and midfielder full-back, who is as comfortable on the left as he is on the right. He, like his brother, has progressed through the youth system at Old Trafford to become an integral part of the senior side. Indeed, just like Butt, Scholes, and Beckham, Phil has managed to move his fine performances at club level onto the international stage, an achievement that began with his debut for England against China in 1996.

In typical Neville fashion, Phil rarely gets a goal, but did manage to score a great one in November '98 in a Champions' League game against Brondby. Again, like his brother, Phil was selected for the 22 man squad that went to France for the World Cup in 1998. Even the change of manager did not disrupt Phil's call ups as Kevin Keegan selected him for the first eight games of his reign and Sven Goran Eriksson continued to include him in his young squad.

One of United's most relable and hard-working players, Phil was rewarded with a place in Alex Ferguson's "team of the decade", when Ferguson selected a side for a special video at the end of the 98/99 season.

However, Ferguson did not seem as keen to pick Neville for his first team, and he was still a back-up for his brother and Mickael Silvestre. He scored another "wonder-goal" in 2001/02 at home to Southampton, though he missed out on yet another World Cup, as Eriksson left him out of his squad for the first time, and at the worst possible time.

Fortunately, 2002/03 was a much better season for him, as he proved invaluable to injury-plagued United. The highlight was a powerhouse performance at home to Arsenal when he played Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva off the pitch. He also came up with goals against Southampton (again) and West Ham, and even won his place in the England squad back at the end of the season.

In 2003/04 he was a less frequent started in an increasingly-congested United midfield, but rarely let the side down and earned a place in the Euro 2004 squad. He made just two substitute appearances, but at least managed to avoid the kind of costly error he made in the previous European Championships.

However, 2004/05 saw him increasingly marginalised at Old Trafford, so it was no surprise that he finally moved on to Everton in the summer, and he showed in his first season at Goodison that he has matured into a very solid defensive midfielder, who was a key member of the first-team for David Moyes. However, he did blot his copybook slightly with two red cards and ten yellows.

Following another superb season in 06/07, he is a vital part of the Everton team, providing experience to some of their younger stars.