McNeil blow for Everton so who else could they pursue

It looks as though Everton have lost out in their pursuit of Burnley forward Dwight McNeil, so who else should the club be looking at?

While Everton have added two new attacking players in Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray, the rumours are that manager Rafa Benitez wants at least one other wide player as well.

The player that was most strongly rumoured to be this third attacker on his list, was the Clarets young forward McNeil. The Toffees have been strongly associated with a move for the 21-year-old in recent weeks.

But it seems as though Burnley are determined to keep him and are not in need of funds through player sales so will strongly resist any approach from other clubs.

At the very least it will probably take a huge bid to prise McNeil away from Turf Moor. Given that this is unlikely because of the Blues financial problems, the club may need to look elsewhere.

One other option and a player similar to McNeil could be West Brom midfielder/ forward Matheus Pereira. The 25-year-old Brazilian has just been relegated with the Baggies but despite the failure of his team he had a fine campaign last term.

Pereira scored eleven goals and managed six assists as well. He was West Brom’s best and most dangerous attacking player throughout the season and is obviously a Premier League quality footballer.

The Brazilian can play anywhere across the midfield and further forward but his best position seems to be on the left hand side, although he can also operate as a number ten.

Pereira isn’t the quickest and tends to play a little deeper than an out-and-out winger but he is also strong defensively.

So one possible tactical approach Benitez might consider is for him and Townsend to play on the flanks and give the team additional defensive solidity as well as attacking creativity out wide while also freeing up overlapping attacking full-backs Lucas Digne and perhaps too Denzel Dumfries?

Another player who has just popped up on the radar is the Real Madrid winger and another Brazilian, Rodrygo. According to reports in the Spanish media the youngster will be available this summer as he seeks more consistent playing time and Los Blancos look to trim their squad.

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Everton are one of several clubs, including one of Benitez’s former employers Napoli, who are supposedly closely monitoring Rodrygo.

The Brazilian is an exciting talent and while he has had limited opportunities at the Santiago Bernabeu in 22 appearances, many of them like Demarai Gray coming off the bench, he did manage six assists and certainly seems a creative player.

Rodrygo has some important strengths that would fit in well with what the Toffees need. In particular along with excellent assist stats, he is especially good carrying the ball forward and also presses well, which would help improve on recent Blues teams that have often failed to do this effectively.

In many ways he looks like a player who is a bit similar to his compatriot Matheus Nunes, someone the Blues have been linked with repeatedly over the past month or so but who would probably cost a lot more to sign.

Rodrygo can play wide on the right or left although he prefers the right side, and so would give Everton another versatile young winger alongside Gray to provide pace and creativity and one who like the Englishman, wouldn’t break the bank either.

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