Neves would be good addition to Everton if Santo joins
It looks increasingly likely that Nuno Espirito Santo will be the new Everton manager and while this will leave Blues fans divided there might be a few immediate positives if he does bring one or two of the best Wolves players with him.
After all the rumours and stories about this coach or that one coming to Everton it looks now as though the long-time favourite for the job, the ex-Wolves coach Santo, will be unveiled as the new Toffees boss very soon.
The momentum behind the appointment of Santo seems to be decisive with a belief that he is the one Farhad Moshiri wants and so it appears probable there will be an announcment from the club in the next few days.
There seem to be a lot of reasons why the Blues are closing in on the 47-year-old Portuguese coach including his transfer history and commitment to signing young players (as Marcel Brands likes to do) and his ability to operate with a small squad and reduced wage bill.
I’m not sure whether Santo is the right man for the job and he’s not my first choice. But while there are conflicting views about him, he did take Wolves up from the Championship, wining it, then to two consecutive seventh place finishes in the Premier League and a Europa League quarter-final. And all on a fraction of the budget that Everton managers have had over that time.
Santo likes to play a 3-4-3 type formation, not the sort of tactics employed by any recent Blues managers but a system that might work at Everton with Ben Godfrey, for example, playing as a sweeper in a back three and the two full-backs pushing up to provide that width.
And there might also be a few of the players he has previously managed such as Adama Traore and Ruben Neves who could follow him to Goodison Park, players that could strengthen the Toffees team.
I’m not sure about Traore as he had a difficult campaign last season failing to reach the heights of his 2019-20 performances when he was reportedly attracting interest from Liverpool.
But the Blues do need a big injection of pace, which he certainly has in abudance and a real threat from the right hand side, again something he could also offer.
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However, Neves in particular is a player who I think would be a great fit for Everton. He can play as a deep-lying defensive midfielder but is also an excellent passer of the ball and will step up, shoot from distance and notch a fair few goals as well.
The Toffees need a player who can slot into that position provide an effective screen for the defence and and as I’ve said before, free up both Abdoulaye Doucoure and Allan to get forward more often. And the side needs more offensive support from midfield as well as goals too.
Now there are reports that the Portuguese player is going to be put up for sale as Wolves try and bring in some much-needed funds to balance the books.
Arsenal appear to be favourites at the moment to sign Neves and there are stories the north London club are already in talks with the player to do so. But were Santo to become Everton manager that might sway Neves to come to the Blues instead.
There are other Wolves players who might well be of interest to a number of clubs like Pedro Neto. So, if indeed Santo does take over the reigns at Goodison Park the Blues may need to move fast if they want to take advantage of their new manager’s connections.