Everton have been in the news recently for their interest in signing Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha, but now the Blues have been linked with another winger, Barcelona’s Malcom. The 22-year-old forward is reportedly close to signing for Zenit Saint-Petersburg in the Russian league, with a transfer fee of £35 million and an additional £5 million in add-ons being quoted by the press.
Now, the English side have joined the race despite the Brazilian apparently agreeing to a six-year deal with the Russian club. Diario Sport are reporting that Barcelona are willing to negotiate with Everton for Malcom, who joined the Catalan giants in last year’s summer transfer window for a fee of €41 million from French side Bordeaux.
Malcom found little game time in his first season at the La Liga club, making 24 appearances, a majority of them from the bench, scoring 4 times and providing 2 assists.
A good option?
Malcom is a talented attacker who plays on the right, cutting in with his favoured left foot to put in menacing balls into the box or taking shots on goal. The 22-year-old is a good passer and crosser of the ball, while also having good dribbling skills. The Brazilian could be a potent weapon in counter-attacking situations as well.
Everton have been ambitious in the transfer market in the last few seasons, which makes this speculation over a Barcelona player’s move to Goodison Park unsurprising. They seemingly have a good relationship with the Barcelona board, having signed three players from the Spanish club – Yerry Mina, Lucas Digne, and Andre Gomes – over the last two seasons.
The Merseyside club already have two Brazilian wingers in Bernard and Richarlison, both of whom play on the left, but manager Marco Silva has fewer options on the right. While Richarlison can play on the right, he is predominantly someone who likes to cut inside from the left flank, which leaves Silva with just Theo Walcott as his one option on the right, following the sale of Ademola Lookman to RB Leipzig.
Malcom may have had a poor debut season at Barcelona, but a club like Everton -which does not have the expectations and pressure, or the squad depth like Barcelona – could be the right club for him to get some much-needed first-team football and grow as a player while at the same time helping the club work towards the elusive top 6 spot.