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Everton sealed the signing of promising Scotland international right-back Nathan Patterson on a five-and-a-half-year deal on 4 January 2022.
The young defender joined the Blues from Scottish Premiership champions Rangers for an undisclosed fee, becoming the Club's second acquisition of the winter transfer window following the arrival of Vitalii Mykolenko from Dynamo Kyiv.
Patterson played his first game for the Club in an FA Cup fifth-round victory over Boreham Wood on 3 March and was poised for a Premier League debut at West Ham United exactly one month later, only for an ankle injury to intervene and prematurely curtail the player's campaign.
The young Scot showed his ability during the 2022/23 season, making a strong start in which he featured heavily under Frank Lampard.
A combination of injury troubles and great displays by Everton skipper Seamus Coleman made it difficult for Patterson to resume his impressive displays at right-back.
However, an opportunity arose following Coleman’s injury against Leicester City in early May 2023. Patterson played the rest of that game, before starting the next – a 5-1 away win against Brighton and Hove Albion, where he dealt well with the Seagulls’ tricky winger Kaoru Mitoma.
Disappointingly, Patterson picked up an injury in the penultimate game of the season, ruling him out of the campaign finale against Bournemouth.
Tall and athletic with a lightning burst of pace, Patterson is a modern-day full-back who combines determination in defence with a hunger to drive forward and contribute in attack.
Indeed, his attacking strengths led to him, on occasion, being deployed in a more advanced role on the right flank in his final two seasons in Scotland.
Patterson joined Rangers' academy aged eight, progressing through the ranks to establish himself as a member of the Glasgow club’s first-team squad.
His senior debut came on 17 January 2020 in a Scottish Cup match against Stranraer at Ibrox.
A breakthrough season followed in 2020/21, with a league debut in a 2-0 home win over Kilmarnock on 22 August 2020 the first of 14 first-team appearances.
He established himself as a regular in the starting line-up for the season run-in, as the Gers landed a first league title for 10 years, going unbeaten through their campaign.
Patterson’s maiden senior goal came in impressive fashion.
Just 16.6 seconds after stepping off the bench in a UEFA Europa League match against Royal Antwerp, he struck at a vital juncture in a 9-5 aggregate win to help Rangers reach the last 16 of the competition for the second successive season.
Having represented Scotland at various youth levels, an already impressive 2020/21 was capped with a full international bow in a pre-European Championship friendly against Luxembourg, before a sole appearance in the delayed tournament against Croatia at Hampden Park.
On 12 November 2021, Patterson scored his first international goal, the opener in a vital 2–0 World Cup qualifying win in Moldova, before registering an assist for Che Adams for the second.
That victory confirmed Scotland's place in the qualification play-offs for the 2022 Qatar competition.
Ahead of his move to Goodison Park, Patterson had 15 appearances and one goal for club and country in the first five months of 2021/22.
Before his first full season with Everton, Patterson featured for his national side in the UEFA Nations League, which included a start in a 4-1 win over Armenia.
Contracted until: June 2027
