The Liverpool Echo journalist Sam Carroll has cast some doubt over the future of Everton’s Brazilian winger Bernard.
This season, the 27-year-old attacker has been in relatively uninspiring form for the Toffees, having delivered a 6.56/10 average rating, and he has only been the side’s joint-12th-best performer (per WhoScored).
In fact, during the entirety of his time at Goodison Park, the Brazilian has been far from prolific, as he has bagged just five goals and six assists in 66 appearances (per Transfermarkt).
So, in the latest episode of the Liverpool Echo’s Royal Blue: The Everton FC Podcast, Carroll aired some doubts about Bernard’s future under Carlo Ancelotti.
He said: “I also feel that for where Everton want to be, is Bernard good enough on a consistent enough basis? No, probably not.
“It’s whether he [gets] that time next season to prove himself under a manager [like] Carlo Ancelotti. If he does have that quality, then Ancelotti is obviously the right man to get it out of him and obviously I’m sitting here talking about a lad who played for Brazil at the World Cup, so it is a difficult one.
“You just look at other teams and some of the wingers they’ve got, and I just don’t think it’s in Bernard sometimes. If Everton are going to look for a winger who can play on the right, predominantly left-footed and cut inside, that’s kind of what we hoped for from Bernard on the opposite flank, really, and he did show it in spells, but just hasn’t quite brought it to the table.
“At the end of the day, the way I always think about these things when you ask these questions is, if Bernard did join Roma or did join someone else this summer, would we all be sitting here gutted, would we all be sitting here disappointed? No, probably not – and I think that probably tells you a lot really, doesn’t it?”
TIF Thoughts…
As mentioned by the journalist, it has been reported by LaRoma24 that the Serie A outfit AS Roma could have their eyes on securing the winger.
Should Everton sell Bernard this summer?
Yes, he's not good enough
No, he's a solid player
However, the player himself has already poured cold water on that transfer rumour on Instagram (via The Boot Room), so, there would appear to be no definite plan for the Brazilian to leave this summer as of yet.
With two years left on his contract at Goodison Park and a market value of £14.4m (per Transfermarkt), though, the Toffees could command a decent fee for the winger if he was to leave the club.