Everton boss Marco Silva has hinted that he could operate Richarlison as a striker in their clash against Fulham this weekend.
The summer signing, who is naturally a winger, has been absent for three games so far, and Silva has suggested that the 21-year-old also has the ability to play as a centre-forward if necessary.
The Toffees go into this showdown having only won just one of their six league games so far, and Silva was asked whether there was the possibility of Richarlison playing up front after he played in the same position for Brazil in their 5-0 win over El Salvador.
“It’s possible, everything is possible, depending on my decision. What I know is he has performed really well where he’s playing now, and he can perform well as well as a striker,” he said in his pre-match conference, as transcribed by the Liverpool Echo.
“It’s not a position where he’s played many, many times. He played sometimes in Brazil in that position, here in the Premier League maybe just two or three games, and of course he had a fantastic (full) debut for the national team as a striker.
“Maybe because of that everybody is talking about this situation, and in the last game we created a very, very good number of chances and didn’t score.”
OPINION
Everton are a little light on numbers up front, so it comes as no surprise that Silva has hinted that Richarlison could play through the middle at the moment. Their lack of depth in that department has been glaringly obvious of late, especially in their two recent losses to West Ham and Everton – and seeming as Richarlison is their top scorer, it would make sense to play him as a striker. He has already demonstrated that he can do the job well for Brazil, so there is no doubt that he would be able to replicate that for the Toffees if Silva chose that position for him on Saturday. Everton need goals, and lots of them – and by the looks of things, the likes of Cenk Tosun are not going to provide that for them any time soon. It would be a wise decision to play him as a forward – and it may just prove dividends against Fulham this weekend.