The Liverpool Echo’s head of sport David Prentice has recently been discussing the future of Everton midfielder Andre Gomes.
According to recent reports, the Toffees are closing in on the signings of Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure, Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez and Napoli’s Allan.
The three deals will reportedly set Everton back somewhere in the region of £65m, with £25m going on Doucoure, ‘more than £20m’ on Rodriguez and an initial fee of €25m (£21.7m) for Allan.
However, Carlo Ancelotti already has seven players in his first-team squad that play through the centre of midfield (per Transfermarkt).
So, in the latest episode of the Liverpool Echo’s Royal Blue: The Everton FC Podcast, Prentice discussed the future of one of those seven midfielders – Gomes.
He said: “There are probably other players that may need to move on as well, if the players that he’s bringing in – and you’d imagine they would – are going to feature more regularly.
“Also, what’s he going to do with his system now? Because we’re already playing Football Manager and trying to guess and second-guess who he’s going to play and where.
“If you’re going to play Doucoure and Allan in a starting lineup, where does Andre Gomes fit in? He has absolute quality and I like him so much, and I sort of guess that Ancelotti does as well.
“So, it’s going to be really intriguing to see who he uses and how, and where everybody fits into this jigsaw.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, he is clearly a fan of the Portuguese midfielder, although Prentice is not sure where he fits into the side amongst the touted new signings.
Should Everton be looking to sell Andre Gomes this summer?
No, he needs to stay
Yes, he should go
However, after the 27-year-old midfielder delivered a weak 6.43/10 average rating over 19 appearances during the 2019/20 Premier League season (per WhoScored), perhaps Gomes is not guaranteed to be part of the “jigsaw”.
In fact, the average rating left the former Barcelona man as the seventh-worst performer in Everton’s squad and the worst-performing midfielder of those still at the club to make an appearance.
So, hopefully, for Gomes, he will be presented with the opportunity to deliver improved performances during the upcoming season.