Everton are on the verge of competing a megabucks deal to sign Brazilian Richarlison from fellow Premier League side Watford.

Reports suggest that The Toffees will pay around £50m for the forward, meaning that they’ll break their transfer record for a second summer in a row.

The twenty-one year old joined The Hornets twelve months ago, for a £13m fee and made an immediate impact. He impressed the home support at Vicarage Road with his flair and his work ethic.

He scored all his five league goals in the first fifteen games of the campaign. The attacker also managed to create four assists during the first half of the season.

His form would take a dip during the second half of the season. He wouldn’t grab a goal or an assist in 2018.

It should be noted that Richarlison was playing at his best when Marco Silva was the coach at Watford. The Portuguese boss is now the Everton gaffer and he’ll be hoping to get the best out of the talented Brazilian next term.

Richarlison clearly lost his way after Silva’s departure and it will be hoped that he’ll shine again if they complete the reunion in the next few days.

The Brazil youth international predominantly plays on the left wing and on average he made around 2.5 shots per Premier League game and made 1.2 dribbles per outing too. He enjoys cutting inside and taking shots from that area.

He’s a very passionate individual and as you can imagine for a South American he possesses good ball control, a good turn of pace and some nice tricks to beat opponents.

Interestingly for a wide-man the youngster is also very good in the air, allowing him to win important flick-ons and headers in the opposition penalty area. Last term he was winning 3.2 aerial duels per top flight fixture. The talented winger also doesn’t mind working back and helping his full-back in defensive areas.

Being a young forward, he can still be inconsistent, as his second half of the season at Watford suggests. But he shows plenty of endeavour and has the qualities to become a real star in the English Premier League.

Being back under the guardianship of Marco Silva could be vital in his progress and him starring in the Blue jersey next term.

The manager was extremely enthusiastic when discussing his young star last year:

“He is a fantastic boy, an amazing talent,”

“From the first day I arrived I said to the board that I want him, because I believe a lot in this player.

“You never know how he will react because this is another country, but everything he has done until now is amazing,” 

“His skills coming into the Premier League are very good.”

Importantly for Everton, it’s a two way street and the player has great admiration for Silva:

“His professionalism delighted me. We can expect that Marco will be among the best coaches in the world very soon.”

“We have a very good relationship. When the players don’t understand the tactical part, for example, he takes one by one and explains what he wants. He prioritises the tactical part.”

I don’t think The Toffees’ support should be overly concerned by the player’s decline in form last season.

It was bound to happen given the various factors that surrounded Richarlison last year. Firstly, he’s young and playing abroad for the first time in his career. Then you have the Silva sacking, as we know he had an instant bond with Marco. Then there’s the fact that he didn’t have time off between his move from Brazil to England, so he was probably a bit jaded.

Everton will be hoping that Marco Silva can once again get Richarlison playing positively and getting the best out of the young Brazilian star.

If a refreshed Richarilson can rediscover the form he showed at the beginning of last season, then Everton will be getting a world class prospect that could become a superb creative force that can push the club on to better things!

Posted on July 22nd, 2018 by scott
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