Everton tied their Brazilian forward Richarlison down to a new deal that will keep the player at Goodison Park until 2024 this week and it was an astute piece of business by the Toffees, assuring the long-term future of one of their most valuable assets.
Richarlison has been at the club since following manager Marco Silva from Watford in July 2018 and is their top scorer this season with eight goals.
The reason that ensuring Richarlison remains with the Merseyside club was so vitally important is because they currently lack a serious goal threat as strikers Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Cenk Tosun and Moise Kean have eight goals between them in all competitions, with Calvert-Lewin leading the way with seven.
The fact that three strikers have the same number of goals as a winger should be worrying for Everton. Their central attackers have been impotent, with just a single assist between the trio, while the Brazilian has two to his name. These statistics highlight how reliant the Toffees have been on the 22-year-old since his arrival.
Alongside scoring 22 goals in 57 appearances in all competitions since arriving, Richarlison is a crucial asset to Everton financially, as he is by far the most valuable player in their squad, valued at £45m (Transfermarkt).
If the club were forced to sell him, he has an incredibly high sell on value, and they could perhaps ask for a higher fee than the initial £35m they shelled out for the forward. There are few other players within the Toffees’ squad who you could say the same about, Morgan Schneiderlin, Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott are all 28 to 30-years-old, and their resale value is already reasonably low and continuously decreasing.
Despite Everton’s turbulent performances since Richarlison arrived on Merseyside, the Brazilian has gone on to make his international debut and he now has 19 caps to his name, which is evidence to suggest he is making progress and keeping him at the club was a crucial piece of business. Now that his long-term future is assured, the forward can focus on his development without too much interest from outside clubs to turn his head.
