Portuguese player links start in earnest for Everton
As it seems to be increasingly likely that Everton will appoint Nuno Espirito Santo as their new manager, the links to Portuguese players has begun.
We’ve mentioned a few Portuguese players currently at Santo’s former club Wolves who may possibly come to Everton, but there are also rumours about new players joining in this summer’s transfer window from that country.
The first of these centres on a Sporting Lisbon midfielder Matheus Nunes who it is claimed will be joining the Toffees once Santo has walked through the doors at Goodison Park.
Obviously if the ex-Valencia and Wolves manager is the Blues next coach then it’s likely he will bring in at least a few of his fellow countrymen, that’s certainly what happened at Molineux.
His arrival might also have a significant impact on players like Portuguese midfielder Andre Gomes who has massively underperformed and possibly also Brazilian Richarlison who obviously speaks the same native language. If Santo can get the best out of Richarlison, assuming he stays, it will be a considerable boost to the Toffees next season.
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Returning to Nunes, he is a 22-year-old who’s had a solid season in the Portuguese league and he is now being mentioned in connection with other European clubs.
The young midfielder’s strengths are his self-confidence and ability on the ball. He enjoys picking up the ball and carrying it very skilfully forward creating space for other attackers and then feeding them or getting into goal-scoring positions.
Everton certainly need a player who can successfully carry the ball and take and beat defenders to free up space for others and particularly the forwards to more effectively create and score goals.
The Toffees have had a few players on their books who are supposed to be able to do that, especially Bernard and Alex Iwobi. Neither of these though have delivered on this and Iwobi in particular has been a huge disappointment. Having a player able to carry the ball and commit defenders would help improve the Blues attack.
Nunes might well meet this criteria and provide a better option than the current incumbants, but it seems unlikely he will be a major priority for whoever does succeed Ancelotti.