Last summer, Everton signed then-21-year-old striker Sandro Ramírez after meeting his £5.2m buy-out clause.
It was a very good piece of business for the player who was destined to have a very bright future in Spain. A member of the famed La Masia academy in Barcelona, he was a Champions League winner, two time La Liga winner and two time Copa del Rey winner with the Catalan giants.
He was sold to fellow La Liga outfit Malaga in 2016, and had just had a barnstorming season with them, scoring 14 league goals. As a result, there was a lot of expectation on him from Everton fans, particularly as the departure of star man Romelu Lukaku seemed imminent.
The Toffees’ fans were quick to welcome the Spain under-21 international, and amongst other signings made that summer, had very high hopes for the season ahead.
This is what the fans had to say:
Superb signing. Welcome Sandro
— Paddy (@sosevertonian) July 3, 2017
Barca will regret letting him go
— Maverick (@sungodsam_) July 4, 2017
Sandro The Best Little Spaniard I Know.
— PF (@PeterFearns) July 3, 2017
Sandroooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!
— Jeff Lampkin (@lampdizl) July 3, 2017
Gonna win the league
— Tyler (@TylerHollow98) July 3, 2017
perfect signing
— Abdulrahman (@Abdulrahman_hi) July 3, 2017
Good player and great value
— rick thomas (@def213) July 3, 2017
What a day for the blues Sandro and Keane both great young players with big league experience
— allan hodges (@HodgesAllan) July 3, 2017
It’s an exciting time to be an Evertonian, hoping for a good pre season and a couple more awesome signings COYB
— Marc Wilson (@marcwilson32) July 3, 2017
Really exciting times for Everton
— Ian Brown (@modernwinter) July 3, 2017
Amazing Signing.. Great talent raised in La Masia. Look after him @Everton
— Suru (@Artistic_Arthur) July 3, 2017
Over a year later, and unfortunately for Everton fans, there is barely anything to report on.
The Spaniard made almost no impact at the club, in what was a difficult first half of the season for The Toffees, which saw manager Ronald Koeman lose his job. Consequently, he was carted back off to Spain with Sevilla, where he was unable to score once.
He is spending this season on loan again, this time at Real Sociedad, where a devastating knee ligament injury looks to have cut his season into pieces.
He will probably return to Everton, but if his form over the last season and a half is anything to go by, his future at Goodison Park does not look bright.
