Richarlison provides cryptic update on Everton future

Brazilian star Richarlison has been talking again about his Everton future and dropped a few hints about what might happen in the next few months or year.

Richarlison’s future has been a constant background issue at Everton in recent seasons and he has previously made statements claiming he would look for a new challenge if the club couldn’t meet his expectations and ambitions.

He has again been speaking about the future in an interview with a South American media outlet and he has hinted he would look for a move if it was ‘right’ for both him and the club.

Last season was a difficult one for the Brazil international as he seemed to struggle to make a consistent impact in the team under Carlo Ancelotti and got sent off for a typically petulant and silly foul at the end of the Goodison Park derby in October.

In the end his goal productivity was well down on the two previous campaigns and left a sense that he hadn’t done himself or the team justice with his performances.

Then this summer he headed off to South America for the Copa America finals and Brazil went all the way to the final before ultimately losing to Argentina.

The club appeared reluctant to let Richarlison then go on and play in the Olympic tournament and it seemed that it was an intervention from new manager Rafa Benitez that swung it so that an agreement could be reached and he could go and play for his country in Tokyo.

Having won Olympic gold he then returned to England just in time for the start of the new Premier League season.

Then with a few days left in the transfer window came stories that PSG were keen on signing the Brazilian to replace Kylian Mbappe if he left for Real Madrid.

That deal of course didn’t happen but there were rumours that Richarlison’s representatives had been talking about a possible move to the French giants.

As everyone knows the Toffees financial problems had led to a much reduced spend in the summer transfer window and this is meant the Blues failing to add the additional talent that is needed to enable this team to make the next step up.

So, what will happen next year? In many ways it probably boils down to where Everton finish in the Premier League and whether the team qualifies for European football.

If the Blues get a European place and look as though they are going somewhere under Benitez then Richarlison may well decide to stay and possibly see out his contract, which runs until 2024.

However, if the Toffees financial problems haven’t eased might the club have to consider whether they need to sell a major asset to finance further spending? Richarlison would be the obvious player to sell and would presumably command a fee of around £60-70 million or so.

Do you think Everton should sell the Brazilian next summer if big money is on the table?