Dude can be a sub on a good team
But that’s it
And to think I thought he was better than Luis Diaz
How many Richarlisons would you get for one Luis Diaz? When you frame the question like that you begin to grasp the scale of the problem. ‘Value’ is a concept that most of Richarlison’s defenders on this board and in the wider Evertonian fan base seem have difficulty with. It’s not just the current
notional value—Diaz at the moment looks at least a £75 million player, while Richarlison looks like he’s worth at most £15 million—of five Richarlisons for one Diaz.
The real issue is that, given real-world limitations in squad sizes/wage budgets, for the dozen or so top European clubs that Richarlison dreams of joining he literally has
no value in the first team role he imagines himself in. These clubs wouldn’t exchange an
infinite number of Richarlisons for one Diaz, because the latter (as we all saw yesterday) is a genuine game changer who makes the difference whilst the latter just makes up the numbers.
These clubs generally aren’t looking for ‘squad depth’—it’s the Leicester Cities of the world who are looking for that. What they’re looking for is
quality to fill defined roles. Most signings they make are with a view to improving their first teams and therefore squad
quality unless they actually announce otherwise: Liverpool bought Tsimikas from a Greek club specifically as cover for Robertson and this summer will make a similar signing on the opposite flank to ensure that the team can play in the same way when Alexander-Arnold needs a rest. Apart from those sorts of signings, they’re generally buying players whom they believe can improve their first teams. There’s not a ‘top club’ around—not even Man United—whose first team Richarlison improves.
Richarlison plays in the same game changing left-sided attacker role as Diaz, but is most definitely NOT a game changer. So the only way way he ends up at a Barcelona/PSG-type club is if they’re looking for a left sided attacker to deputise when their first choices need a rest. But Neymar/Dembele already have the likes of Draxler and Depay covering for them. His only path to a top club is to offer himself up as a substitute on the cheap—accepting a cut from his current wages.
Delusional fans who think that attackers who can’t consistently do the basics of football like controlling the ball and executing simple passes and who make single digit G/A contributions season after season are worth £80 million are as much to blame for Everton’s plight as Moshiri, Kenwright and co. Everton fans ought to have been urging the club to cut its losses and sell Richarlison a couple of seasons ago when his value was at its highest. Instead he was continually defended to the death because “work rate”/“he loves the club”/“he’s not getting the service”. And now his ineffectual performances and open goal misses are on the verge of getting the club relegated.