Paul Merson has suggested that Everton star Richarlison has proved him wrong this season after his arrival from Watford in the summer.
He says that the Toffees “massively overpaid” for the £90,000-a-week [Spotrac] player last year, but reckons that he has proved to be good value for money after scoring 13 goals so far this season.
The Sky Sports pundit believes that he has been able to maintain his good form at Everton better than he did at Watford, but still thinks that he needs to work at being more consistent to be an even better player.
“When they signed him, I said they ruined the transfer market because they massively overpaid for him and he wasn’t worth such a big fee because he was too inconsistent. I still think Everton paid a lot of money for him but he’s scored 13 goals and he’s probably proved to be good value for them to be honest,” he said in his Daily Star column.
“My problem with him was always that he had too many up and down spells, and I think that’s still the case. But fair play to him – 13 goals is a good return. He still has spells where he has a little scoring burst and then he starts to go missing for a few games.
“But he has been a lot more consistent for Everton than he was at Watford, where he barely turned up for some of their games. But he’s still young and I think he can get that consistency if he keeps working hard.”
OPINION
To be honest, it is hard what to make of Richarlison this season. At the start, he thoroughly warranted the fee that Everton paid for him. Then he suffered a slump in form towards the middle of the season, something which reflected in the whole team’s performance. He has picked it up a bit recently, and the 2-0 win over Chelsea a while go was definitely a turning point for him. His display in that game showed the fans just what a top-class player he really is, and there is every chance that he can double his current goal tally if he can put the hard work in. Yes, there is no guarantee that he will turn up for every game, but if the Toffees end up signing a decent forward, then we could see Richarlison firing on all cylinders. He is a decent player – all he needs to do is find that consistency.