Everton might have transfer deal for unwanted winger

I like Yannick Bolasie way more than his talent justifies. He’s a great locker room presence, always seems to be smiling, and you never know what he’s going to just try out on a football pitch. Because of that, it is with great regret that I see him linked to a return to Crystal Palace by the Evening Standard.

Don’t get me wrong, this is the correct move by Everton Football Club. Bolasie simply doesn’t have the end product in either finishing nor providing to justify his continued stay at the club (assuming the plan is to retain Ademola Lookman and use him, Richarlison, and Theo Walcott as our top three wingers) and he is well loved at Palace so the move should be good for the player also. Sometimes in sport, what works on the playing side doesn’t match what you want on the personal side.

Bolasie was not even in the squad against Valencia on Saturday, so it is no surprise that this link has surfaced. New manager Marco Silva has shown no inclination that he includes the winger in his plans.

As alluded to above, the loss of Bolasie (coupled with the already completed move of Kevin- don’t let the door hit you on the way out-Mirallas) means that Everton desperately needs to keep Ade Lookman in house for this season.

We saw last year what happens when a starting winger you don’t have cover for gets injured, and as far as I am concerned there have been plenty of attempts at Gylfi Sigurdsson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin out on the wing already. Though come to think of it we could use Sandro Ramirez out there as cover.

If this ends up being the last of Yala at Everton, I enjoyed the ride, even if it didn’t turn out quite as we all hoped.