Signed in a potential deal worth £50 million, Everton splashed the cash on the young Brazilian who had only spent a year in English football.
New Everton boss, Marco Silva, had signed the Brazilian from Fluminense in 2017 and the Brazilian made a quick start to Watford career as he scored five goals to go with five assists in the league before the turn of the year. With the departure of Marco Silva, however, the forward’s form dropped and failed to score a goal in the Premier League from November all the way through to the end of the season.
This year, the 21-year-old has got back to scoring ways and has already bettered his goal tally from last season. In what looks like a stroke of genius, Silva has converted the former Watford into an out and striker. It’s still early but so far it looks as though Richarlison could be a natural fit as a striker rather than a winger.
Everton don’t have a premier striker in their squad and in Richarlison they may have a player that could fill that role.
Interestingly at Everton, Richarlison is mimicking a move, fellow teammate Theo Walcott always wished he could.
During his time at Arsenal, Walcott constantly announced his desire to play through the middle. He did get his chance at Arsenal to play as the main striker but in truth, he never consistently showed that the qualities needed. His movement against two centrebacks was never good enough, while his finishing only seemed clinical when he didn’t need to think – whenever he had time in front of goal he always seemed to miss the target.
As we all know, Walcott had searing pace but in the middle as the lone forward, he was often marked out of the game. Yes, Richarlison needs to perform throughout the whole season but so far, he’s already showing the skills required to be a good striker. The skills that Walcott never showed consistently enough during his time at Arsenal.
