Everton are reportedly trying to bring Andre Gomes to the Premier League and end his La Liga nightmare at Barcelona.
The Portuguese midfielder was introduced to a chorus of boos from the home support when he replaced the injured Andres Iniesta ten minutes before the break. Yes, Gomes was cheered wildly by some supporters clad in blue and red, but this was more a desperate attempt to cover up the jeers from Gomes’s many critics.
“It has become a hell. I cannot shake negative moments out of my head and it impacts on my performances and I am thinking too much,” Gomes told Panenka a week later.
“It leads me to feel ashamed and sometimes I feel that I cannot leave the house due to the shame and due to people looking at me.”
Everton, then, would be taking a major risk if they offered Gomes an escape from his Camp Nou nightmare this summer. AS Sport reported last week that the Toffees have suddenly entered the race for the former Valencia man and are willing to pay £23 million for his services.
But Everton would be signing a player whose confidence has been crushed in two disappointing years at the Camp Nou, in which every little mistake has been over-analysed.
And then you consider that Everton are not exactly short of central midfielders who like the ball to feet and wonder whether this is even a risk worth taking.
Gomes showed at Valencia that he is a player with huge promise, a Yaya Toure-esque driving force at times. But that bulldozing style has not been seen for two years.
And, with Everton under pressure to ace the transfer market after two summers of overpriced flops, Gomes is maybe one man they should stay clear of.
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