Leighton Baines will take charge of Everton’s under-18 side from next season.
Baines had previously been serving as the club’s professional development coach shortly after calling time on a lengthy playing career in summer 2020.
Latterly the former left-back also took up a role of temporary first-team coach when Duncan Ferguson was appointed caretaker of the Blues in January.
But Baines is now set to replace Paul Tait as head coach of the U18 team as part of a reshuffle of the Blues’ academy setup during the close-season.
In turn, Tait has been confirmed as David Unsworth’s replacement as U23 head coach following the ex-defender’s decision to leave earlier this summer.
Gareth Prosser will oversee Everton’s youth production line as the club’s new academy director, where he will liaise with director of football Kevin Thelwell.
Prosser and Thelwell previously worked together at Derby County and Wolves, where with the pair occupied identical job titles to their current ones.
Their partnership saw the Molineux club’s academy gain Category One status in 2012, something solidified by an unconditional three-year licence in 2016.
In 2019, Prosser left Wolves to head up the Professional Game Academy Audit Company (PGAAC), which quality assures the youth development programmes of all professional clubs in the country.
“Gareth is an outstanding Academy Director and his recent work as General Manager with the PGAAC has continued that development within the area of youth development,” said Thelwell.
“We want our Academy to operate at the highest possible standards and, after a rigorous and thorough recruitment process, felt Gareth – as the lead practitioner responsible for setting and developing these standards for all academies across the country in his previous role – was the standout candidate to support that development at Everton.”