DOES ANYONE STILL THINK £44m FOR RICHARLISON WAS A WASTE OF MONEY?
EYEBROWS are no longer raised at the £44million fee Everton spent on Richarlison this summer. New manager Marco Silva, who had the Brazilian at Watford and insisted the 21-year-old followed him to Merseyside, is a cool kitten but even from him there is a sense of relief the marquee signing has started so well. His headed winner against Southampton on Saturday followed a debut double at Wolves. ‘I am sure people will understand where the market is now,’ said Silva. ‘I don’t care how much the club paid for Richarlison. Everybody is happy. We did the right deal.’ Richarlison has made a mockery of his lack of goals at Watford — none in his last 28 games — by scoring with his first three shots on target as an Everton player. More than that, he has connected with the fans, who love his tenacity and workrate as much as the samba skills. The People’s Club had a vacancy for a hero and supporters gave Richarlison a noisy standing ovation when he was subbed on 86 minutes and mobbed him after he returned to the Gwladys Street End at the final whistle to hand over his No 30 jersey.
The only cloud on the horizon is that as Richarlison’s reputation soars, so will the bonecrunching tackles. Saints midfielder Oriol Romeu was booked for clattering into the Brazilian. Silva said: ‘It is normal. He can cope with everything. Within the rules, he is ready to accept it and get on with it.’ Southampton had five players booked but boss Mark Hughes felt that was due to over-acting, without naming individuals. ‘I think the referee was influenced a little bit too much by the antics of the Everton players screaming before they were even touched,’ he said. ‘But the referee didn’t really stamp down on that. ‘It was hardly a dirty game, was it? It was just people bundling into people and all of a sudden, yellow cards.’ After two games, there is evidence that the early-season optimism at Goodison is better-founded than a year ago. Theo Walcott’s opener via Leighton Baines and Morgan Schneiderlin from a free-kick suggested detailed work at the training ground. And Walcott’s delivery for Richarlison to make it 2-0 was perfect. Danny Ings hit Southampton’s first goal of the season after 54 minutes and later had to change his ripped shirt when Jordan Pickford’s boot caught him on the back in the follow-through to a clearance. Finding the net often enough might be Saints’ achilles heel this season. At Everton, contrasts with the Sam Allardyce era will be made with Silva admitting he has asked his team to play 50 yards further forward. The Portuguese coach is also giving a new lease of life to some of last year’s survivors, including Schneiderlin. ‘He is always doing the work well. We don’t have another player like him in his profile. He is a real No 6 and his position is really important,’ Silva said.