Podcaster Andy Costigan has recently aired his belief that Everton should sell their Brazilian attacker Bernard in the current transfer window.
The Toffees secured the arrival of the 27-year-old winger during the summer of 2018 when he arrived on a free transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk (per Transfermarkt).
Since then, though, the forward has only been able to bag five goals and six assists in 66 appearances for the Merseyside outfit.
Furthermore, of the known weekly salaries amongst the playing staff at Goodison Park, the Brazilian is the joint-highest earner with Yerry Mina on £120,000 per week (per Spotrac).
So, in the latest episode of the Talking the Blues podcast, Costigan aired his belief that the Toffees should be looking to ship out Bernard due to his wages.
He said: “We didn’t lay out £10/15/20m for [Bernard], he came for nothing.
“So, if Bernard were to be sold, let’s say for argument’s sake for £10m, that’s pure profit, plus we reduce the drag on the wage bill, where he is currently the biggest earner on the books.
“So, [as] much as many of us like the little fella, actually, from Everton Football Club’s point of view, the best thing to do would be to move Bernard on and, hopefully, for a fee.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what Costigan had to say, he clearly believes that the Toffees should be looking to sell the 27-year-old attacker in this transfer window.
Should Everton be looking to sell Bernard in the current transfer window?
No, he should stay
Yes, he should go
With two years left on his contract at Goodison Park and a market value of £14.4m (per Transfermarkt), it certainly seems as though the Toffees could expect a fee for him.
However, during the 2019/20 Premier League season, Bernard was in uninspiring form as he delivered a weak 6.56/10 average rating which only made him the Toffees’ joint-12th-best performer (per WhoScored).
So, it would be interesting to see if Everton could find a buyer for Bernard if they did indeed attempt to get him off the books in the current window.