THE sale of former York City defender Ben Godfrey to Premier League leaders Everton shows young players that such a transition is not a “fairytale”, believes Steve Watson.

Godfrey officially put pen to paper at Goodison Park on Monday for a fee not disclosed by the Toffees, but which is believed to be around £25 million.

City are set to receive a cut thanks to the sell-on clause inserted into the deal when Godfrey joined Norwich City in 2016, plus performance-related bonuses based on club and international appearances and honours.

It has the makings of a great deal for both the 22-year-old former Archbishop Holgate’s School pupil - who will work under world-renowned manager Carlo Ancelotti - and his hometown club.

And Watson - an Everton player between 2000 and 2005 - is encouraging his young players to have the ambition to reify the prospect of such moves.

He said: “I think we have improved on that side of things anyway, with the young lads, and me and Tim (Ryan, Academy coach) working a bit closer.

“There is definitely the pathway for them to improve. Not just Ben Godfrey, there are your Vardys and Smallings.

“These younger lads have to have that ambition.

“No disrespect to where we are but I don’t expect lads to want to be playing in the National League North their whole career.

“They have to have that ambition, and having people like Ben Godfrey is proof that it’s not just a fairytale - it can happen, and that’s the way they have to look at things.”

The sell-on fee for Godfrey is believed to be in the region of £2.5m.

“We’ve got a decent, workable budget as it is,” Watson added. “But if we did need that extra player, I’ve got no doubt the conversation would happen.

“We’ve got two players for virtually every position on the pitch. We don’t need to do any more at the moment but things do crop up. It might be an injury or it might be a player who you just can’t say no to and then, when that arises, I’m pretty sure I could have that conversation.”